§ Mr. MillerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what his policy is on surplus places in schools; and if he will publish the numbers and percentages of surplus places in each local education authority in England. [153208]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisRaising education standards informs all our policies. Resources which are locked into maintaining surplus places in schools should wherever possible be freed up and directed towards improving standards. In planning school provision, local education authorities should look for opportunities for removing surplus capacity, with a view to bringing supply and demand for school places into better balance. Their initial
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Surplus places by local authority at January 2000 Primary 1 Secondary Actual Surplus 2 Schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more 3 Actual surplus 2 Schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more 3 LEA Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage 301 Barking and Dagenham 1318 8 3 6 683 6 0 0 302 Barnet 953 4 0 0 737 4 0 0 370 Barnsley 1,863 9 5 6 982 7 1 7 800 Bath and North East Somerset 1,051 8 5 7 837 7 1 8 820 Bedfordshire 3,832 14 23 16 4,157 10 10 18 303 Bexley 831 4 2 3 1,032 6 0 0 330 Birmingham 7,533 7 33 10 5,017 7 8 10 889 Blackburn with Darwen 869 6 2 3 586 6 0 0 890 Blackpool 499 4 1 3 434 6 1 13 850 Bolton 1,971 8 9 9 1,053 6 1 6 837 Bournemouth 280 3 1 4 837 8 1 10 867 Bracknell Forest 1,092 11 5 15 744 11 1 17 380 Bradford 3,484 8 14 9 10,045 21 42 51 304 Brent 1,649 8 5 8 1,212 8 1 8 846 Brighton and Hove 2,191 12 7 12 1,227 10 2 20 801 Bristol, City of 2,821 9 14 12 3,211 16 2 9 305 Bromley 409 2 0 0 339 2 0 0 825 Buckinghamshire 6,343 14 42 22 1,404 4 2 6 351 Bury 887 6 3 4 219 2 1 7 381 Calderdale 1,828 9 12 13 737 5 0 0 873 Cambridgeshire 4,152 9 20 10 1,161 4 1 3 202 Camden 845 8 4 10 868 8 1 10 875 Cheshire 6,961 11 41 14 3,518 7 5 11 201 City of London 6 3 0 0 — — — — focus should be on those schools with 25 per cent. or more of their places unfilled, having particular regard to standards at those schools. The overall aim should be to maximise parental preference and to provide good quality education in the most cost-effective way. The Department's annual survey of surplus places allows us to monitor how local education authorities are meeting this challenge.
The table is based on the returns made by local education authorities in respect of all maintained primary and secondary schools in their area. They set out the numbers of surplus places as at January 2000 for each local authority area, listing primary and secondary separately, together with the proportion that these represent of total capacity. They also highlight the numbers of schools which at that date had surplus of 25 per cent. or more, and at least 30 surplus places, together with the proportion that these represent of the total number of schools. The returns from local education authorities indicate that there were 709,989 surplus school places in January 2000, representing 9 per cent. of the total capacity of 7.8 million places. This is an overall reduction of 22,377 places on 1999 figures.
The proportion of all schools with a quarter or more of their places unfilled remains the same at 11 per cent., although actual numbers have increased from 2,391 in 1999 to 2,406 in 2000. This is attributable to falling primary rolls, which also affect the figure for overall surplus capacity in that sector. The number of secondary schools with 25 per cent. or more surplus capacity continues to fall from 461 in 1999 (13 per cent.) to 393 in 2000 (11 per cent.).
The returns also provide the Department with details of the action authorities propose to take on schools with 25 per cent. or more surplus. The returns indicate that in many cases action is being taken, or is planned. Where planning strategies are unclear in areas with particularly high levels of surplus, the Department will be following up with the authorities concerned.
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Surplus places by local authority area at January 2000 Primary 1 Secondary Actual Surplus 2 Schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more 3 Actual surplus 2 Schools with surplus of 25 per cent, or more 3 LEA Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage 908 Cornwall 3,221 8 20 8 238 1 0 0 331 Coventry 2,415 8 11 12 1,979 9 2 11 306 Croydon 1,542 5 4 4 1,621 9 1 5 909 Cumbria 5,700 12 38 13 4,233 12 9 21 841 Darlington 739 8 6 16 376 6 0 0 831 Derby 1,541 7 3 4 2,362 14 4 29 830 Derbyshire 5,859 9 43 12 4,545 9 8 17 878 Devon 5,284 9 23 7 1,328 3 0 0 371 Doncaster 5,015 16 23 20 1,175 5 0 0 835 Dorset 2,325 9 14 10 2,162 7 2 5 332 Dudley 3,072 10 12 15 970 5 1 5 840 Durham 6,354 13 53 21 2,702 8 4 11 307 Ealing 2,600 10 7 11 218 2 0 0 811 East Riding of Yorkshire 3,011 11 14 10 935 4 1 6 845 East Sussex 2,540 7 10 6 1,113 4 1 4 308 Enfield 865 4 3 5 1,378 7 0 0 881 Essex 10,236 9 41 8 7,719 9 9 11 390 Gateshead 1,771 10 8 11 557 5 0 0 916 Gloucestershire 4,911 10 21 8 2,138 6 2 5 203 Greenwich 2,498 12 8 12 1,477 10 2 14 204 Hackney 2,035 12 6 10 928 11 1 11 876 Halton 3,422 23 20 36 1,034 11 2 22 205 Hammersmith and Fulham 906 10 5 14 557 8 0 0 850 Hampshire 10,135 9 36 8 5,393 7 6 8 309 Haringey 1,131 6 2 3 780 7 0 0 310 Harrow 1,314 7 1 2 819 9 0 0 805 Hartlepool 701 7 2 7 573 8 0 0 311 Havering 2,152 10 6 9 1,317 8 2 11 884 Herefordshire 1,926 12 10 12 1,201 12 3 21 919 Hertfordshire 8,549 9 42 10 9,448 11 12 14 312 Hillingdon 1,340 6 1 1 1,131 7 2 12 313 Hounslow 1,701 9 4 6 410 3 0 0 921 Isle of Wight 419 6 1 2 584 5 0 0 420 Isles of Scilly 92 38 1 25 52 33 1 100 206 Islington 1,747 11 6 12 902 11 1 11 207 Kensington and Chelsea 1,020 14 6 23 662 16 1 25 886 Kent 6,063 5 23 5 8,383 9 10 9 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 4,965 17 16 20 2,087 12 3 19 314 Kingston upon Thames 382 4 1 3 832 9 1 10 382 Kirklees 3,101 8 14 9 2,220 8 3 9 340 Knowsley 2,919 16 14 23 1,617 14 1 9 208 Lambeth 2,463 13 8 12 1,728 20 2 20 888 Lancashire 11,318 10 72 14 4,870 6 7 8 383 Leeds 10,737 15 50 20 4,205 8 7 16 856 Leicester 4,019 14 16 18 959 5 0 0 855 Leicestershire 2,671 5 13 6 3,694 8 5 9 209 Lewisham 1,116 5 2 3 1,934 15 2 15 925 Lincolnshire 5,306 9 37 13 4,030 9 9 14 341 Liverpool 7,155 15 31 20 3,550 10 2 6 821 Luton 2,340 11 7 11 526 4 0 0 352 Manchester 6,143 14 27 18 3,985 15 6 24 887 Medway 1,748 7 8 9 2,143 10 2 10 315 Merton 796 6 5 10 1,291 15 2 18 806 Middlesbrough 1,594 11 5 11 673 7 1 9 826 Milton Keynes 3,569 14 14 16 1,571 12 3 27 391 Newcastle upon Tyne 3,698 17 23 30 2,128 11 4 19 316 Newham 1,700 6 3 5 1,521 8 1 7 926 Norfolk 5,056 7 21 5 3,533 8 5 10 812 North East Lincolnshire 2,804 16 11 18 814 7 0 0 813 North Lincolnshire 1,586 10 8 12 1,174 10 3 21 802 North Somerset 771 5 1 2 781 6 0 0 392 North Tyneside 2,508 15 13 23 2,486 15 6 26 815 North Yorkshire 5,540 11 37 11 2,126 5 2 4 928 Northamptonshire 5,266 9 27 10 4,569 9 9 15 929 Northumberland 3,388 15 24 17 4,146 12 14 23 892 Nottingham 2,961 11 16 16 4,977 27 8 38 891 Nottinghamshire 6,256 9 29 9 8,489 14 12 21 353 Oldham 1,838 8 4 4 1,241 7 2 13 931 Oxfordshire 4,776 10 25 11 5,124 12 5 11 874 Peterborough 1,843 11 9 16 1,172 8 3 23 879 Plymouth 4,387 18 21 26 1,858 9 3 17 836 Poole 674 6 2 7 482 6 0 0 851 Portsmouth 1,268 8 3 6 133 1 0 0 870 Reading 476 5 1 3 1,001 14 2 25
Surplus places by local authority area at January 2000 Primary 1 Secondary Actual Surplus 2 Schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more 3 Actual surplus 2 Schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more 3 LEA Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage 317 Redbridge 831 4 2 4 853 5 0 0 807 Redcar and Cleveland 1,438 10 6 11 1,427 12 2 15 318 Richmond upon Thames 309 3 0 0 626 8 1 13 354 Rochdale 1,671 8 7 9 1,528 10 2 14 372 Rotherham 2,318 9 7 6 1,494 7 1 6 857 Rutland 710 22 5 28 237 10 1 33 355 Salford 4,661 19 29 34 2,614 18 5 29 333 Sandwell 2,037 7 8 8 2,488 12 3 15 343 Sefton 3,069 11 14 15 1,492 7 2 9 373 Sheffield 4,255 9 17 11 1,718 6 0 0 893 Shropshire 2,694 11 19 13 1,056 6 1 5 871 Slough 800 7 2 6 368 5 1 9 334 Solihull 1,477 7 5 7 540 3 0 0 933 Somerset 2,802 7 11 5 3,428 10 6 15 803 South Gloucestershire 1,757 7 7 7 1,173 7 1 7 393 South Tyneside 1,642 11 8 14 1,112 10 1 9 852 Southampton 2,354 12 11 16 893 7 0 0 882 Southend-on-Sea 913 6 1 2 829 7 1 8 210 Southwark 1,927 8 6 8 589 6 0 0 342 St. Helens 1,986 11 9 15 1,008 8 0 0 860 Staffordshire 6,868 9 35 11 999 2 1 1 356 Stockport 2,885 11 11 11 1,392 8 0 0 808 Stockton-on-Tees 1,239 7 2 3 1,249 9 2 15 861 Stoke-on-Trent 4,308 17 22 25 1,406 9 2 12 935 Suffolk 5,684 11 28 11 4,962 9 4 5 394 Sunderland 4,328 14 24 25 1,304 6 2 12 936 Surrey 10,306 12 54 17 4,222 7 4 8 319 Sutton 561 4 1 2 396 3 0 0 866 Swindon 2,330 12 11 16 1,139 9 1 9 357 Tameside 1,121 5 4 5 1,044 7 2 11 894 Telford and the Wrekin 1,327 8 3 5 937 9 3 23 883 Thurrock 1,466 10 3 6 1,040 12 1 10 880 Torbay 478 5 3 9 163 2 0 0 211 Tower Hamlets 2,715 12 10 14 1,167 8 1 7 358 Trafford 1,[...]44 8 7 9 1,018 6 1 6 384 Wakefield 2,974 9 14 11 1,126 5 2 11 335 Walsall 2,395 9 5 5 1,285 6 1 5 320 Waltham Forest 1,565 7 5 8 979 7 1 6 212 Wandsworth 1,627 10 7 12 526 5 1 11 877 Warrington 2,673 13 16 21 609 4 0 0 937 Warwickshire 4,845 11 22 11 2,843 8 5 14 869 West Berkshire 1,564 12 7 10 405 4 0 0 938 West Sussex 6,[...]93 10 27 11 4,788 10 5 13 213 Westminster 397 4 1 3 758 9 0 0 359 Wigan 2,217 8 10 9 942 5 2 10 865 Wiltshire 4,312 11 33 15 2,167 7 4 12 868 Windsor and Maidenhead 451 5 3 7 891 8 2 14 344 Wirral 4,373 14 20 20 2,144 8 2 9 872 Wokingham 494 4 2 4 103 1 0 0 336 Wolverhampton 3,176 13 18 20 1,428 8 2 11 885 Worcestershire 4,470 10 18 9 4,227 10 10 16 816 York 1,855 12 10 17 1,097 10 1 8 Total 431,650 10 2,013 11 278,339 8 393 11 1 Primary figures show surplus after taking account of any summer entry 2 Actual surplus is defined as the difference between capacity and number on roll for all schools where capacity exceeds number on roll 3 Schools with less than 30 surplus places are not included