School Playing Fields (Hansard, 17 April 2002)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Baroness Ashton of Upholland)

Section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was introduced on 1 October 1998 to stop the indiscriminate sale of school playing fields that occurred in the 1980s and early to mid-1990s. Prior to October 1998, there was no regulation of the sale of playing fields at local authority controlled schools. No central records were kept of how many school playing fields were sold before October 1998.

Since October 1998, applications to sell school playing fields have been approved only where it is clear that any proceeds will be used to provide an overall improvement in school sports provision or education facilities. All applications made since 16 July 2001 are scrutinised by the School Playing Fields Advisory Panel to make sure that they meet the department's published criteria. The panel comprises representatives from the National Playing Fields Association, the Central Council of Physical Recreation, Learning through Landscapes, the National Association of Headteachers and the Local Government Association.

The table below shows the number of applications to sell school playing fields larger than a small sports pitch for the under-10s—that is larger than 2,000m²—that were approved in each year since October 1998.

Calendar Year	Sports pitch applications approved
October-December 1998	7
1999	42
2000	32
2001	23

Notes:

1. The table includes applications to sell school playing fields from local authorities, foundation, voluntary and former grant-maintained schools.

2. All sale proceeds are used to provide new or improved sports or education facilities at maintained schools.

3. "Sports pitch" means an area of open grassed land which is equal to, or larger than, the Football Association's recommended 2,000m² area for games played by under-10s and which has a configuration making it suitable for sports, whether laid out as a sports pitch or not.