§ Mr. BradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list applications made to her Department in the last three years for consent to allow development on school playing fields giving in each case(a) the outcome of the application, (b) what steps were taken to ascertain whether adequate sports facilities would remain if permission were granted and (c) where consent was given, what assurances were secured as to how proceeds of sale would be used. [33633]
§ Mr. TimmsAlthough the Department does not collect information in the form requested, the following table lists applications to dispose of areas equal to, or larger than, a sports pitch, together with their outcome.
Before October 1998, there was nothing to prevent a local authority selling a school playing field if it wanted to. Section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was introduced in October 1998 to stop the
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Applications to dispose of school sports pitches which have been approved by the Secretary of State Local education authority School Date applied Barnet Ashmole School 15 December 1998 Bedfordshire Silver Jubilee Middle School 30 April 1999 Bedfordshire Ashton St. Peter VA School 29 September 2000 Birmingham Broadway School 11 June 2001 Blackpool Collegiate High School 13 December 1999 Bolton St. James's CofE School 24 July 1998 Bristol Monks Park Secondary School 28 October 1998 Buckinghamshire Bellfield First and Middle Schools 22 February 1999 Buckinghamshire Terriers County First School 10 May 1999 Buckinghamshire Downley Middle School 12 January 2000 Buckinghamshire Heights First School 12 January 2000 Calderdale Brooksbank School 1 July 1998 Cheshire St. James CofE Junior School 30 November 1998 Cheshire Colshaw CP School 30 June 1999 Cheshire Westlands High School 17 November 1999 Cheshire Manor Park Infant School 27 November 2000 Cheshire Brookside County Infant School 5 February 2001 Croydon Haling Manor High School 4 January 1999 Derbyshire Noel Baker Community School 2 November 1998 Derbyshire Western Mere School 2 February 1999 Derbyshire Pingle School 26 July 2000 Devon Highweek Primary School 17 August 1999 Dorset Fosters School 7 December 1998 Dudley Colley Lane Primary School 11 October 2001 Dudley Summerhill Secondary School 11 October 2001 Durham The Avenue Comprehensive School 19 May 1999 Durham Westwood Primary School 31 July 2000 Essex The Stanway School 17 November 1998 Essex Moulsham High School 18 January 1999 Essex Oakview Special School 10 April 2000 Essex Tabor High School 29 January 2001 Gloucestershire Churchdown School 3 December 1997 Gloucestershire The Catholic School of St. Gregory the Great 26 July 1999 Gloucestershire Oxstalls Community School 25 November 1999 Halton Ashley Special School 6 November 1998 Hammersmith and Fulham Gibbs Green Special School 8 March 1999 Hammersmith and Fulham Burlington Danes School 16 March 1999 Havering Frances Bardsley School for Girls 13 August 1999 Kent St. Thomas' Special School 12 May 1999 Kent St. Simon Stock School 13 December 1999 Kent Allhallows Primary School 12 July 2001 Knowsley Sylvester School 12 August 1999 Lancashire St. Richards RC High School 15 December 1998 Lancashire St. Thomas Acquinas RC High School 5 February 1999 Lancashire Baines High School 15 November 2000 Leeds Lawnswood School 21 November 2000 Leeds Oakwood Primary School 21 November 2000 indiscriminate sale of school playing fields. Local authorities and governing bodies of all maintained schools are now required to obtain the Secretary of State's consent before disposing of playing fields or any part of a playing field. Applications to dispose, or change the use, of school playing fields are assessed against the following criteria;
- (a) schools' needs: that playing field provision and curriculum requirements at the school making the disposal, and at other schools in the local area, will be met;
- (b) community needs: that community use of a school's playing fields is taken into account, with alternative facilities made available if necessary;
- (c) finance: that any sale proceeds are re-invested to provide new or improved sports facilities at schools, or are used to help to raise standards by providing better educational facilities.
Only those applications that meet the criteria are approved. Since July 2001, all applications have been scrutinised by the independent School Playing Fields Advisory Panel to make sure that they conform to the published criteria. The Panel comprises representatives from the National Playing Fields Association, the Central Council of Physical Recreation, the education organisation Learning through Landscapes, the National Association of Head Teachers and the Local Government Association.
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Applications to dispose of school sports pitches which have been approved by the Secretary of State Local education authority School Date applied Leeds Roundhay School 21 November 2000 Leeds Wetherby High School 19 September 2001 Liverpool Childwall Comprehensive School 9 April 2001 Milton Keynes Denbigh School 16 November 1998 Milton Keynes Castles First School 6 August 1999 Norfolk Redgate Middle School 12 April 2000 North-East Lines Hereford Technology College 13 November 2000 North Tyneside St. Mary's Roman Catholic School 22 December 1998 North Yorkshire Settle CE Primary School 20 November 1998 Northamptonshire John Lea Secondary School 14 August 2000 Northumberland St. Benet Biscop RC Aided High School 5 February 1999 Northumberland Gallowhill Hall Special School 18 February 2000 Nottinghamshire Manor Comprehensive School 14 April 2000 Nottinghamshire Lincoln Street Infant School 14 July 2000 Oldham Kaskenmoor Secondary School 29 October 1999 Oxfordshire Wallingford School 16 June 2000 Peterborough The King's School 8 May 1998 Peterborough Deacons School 28 July 1998 Peterborough The King's School 27 September 2000 Rochdale Spring Hill High School 7 May 1999 Rochdale Middleton Technology School 28 March 2001 Sefton Litherland Moss County Primary School 22 March 1999 Shropshire Lower Grove School 2 February 2001 Somerset King Arthur's Comprehensive School 24 March 1999 Somerset Ladymead Comprehensive School 6 April 1999 Staffordshire Sir Graham Balfour High School 25 June 1999 Surrey Rosebery School 6 January 1998 Surrey Okewood District CE School 30 November 1998 Surrey Merland Rise CP School 8 January 1999 Surrey Banstead County Junior School and St. Anne's RC Primary School 27 May 1999 Surrey Park Mead Junior School 8 March 2000 Surrey Boxgrove Primary School 13 April 2000 Tameside Egerton Park High School 17 January 2000 Telford and Wrekin Blessed Robert Johnson School 26 March 1999 Wakefield South Elmsall Middle School 10 December 1998 Wakefield Kinsley First School 13 January 1999 Wakefield Kinsley First School 30 July 1999 Walsall Beacon School 18 December 1998 Walsall St. Thomas More Catholic Comprehensive School 18 April 2001 Warwickshire Attleborough First School 11 December 1998 Warwickshire Exhall First School 21 July 1999 Warwickshire Binley Woods First School 3 August 1999 Warwickshire Stratford-upon-Avon High School 14 August 2000 Warwickshire Marie Corelli School 21 August 2000 West Sussex Hazelwick School 7 February 2000 Wigan Hindley Borsdane Brook Special School 11 February 1999 Wigan Rose Hill Special School 11 February 1999 Wigan Tyldesley Highfield Special School 11 February 1999 Wigan Orrell Holgate Primary School 4 December 2000 Wiltshire Castle Combe Primary School 7 August 2000 Wolverhampton St. Peters Collegiate School 25 November 1998 Wolverhampton Aldersley High School 4 December 1998 Worcestershire Callowbrook First School 6 November 2000 Notes:
- 1. Sports pitch' means areas of open grassed land which are equal to, or larger than, the Football Association's recommended area for games played by under-10s, that is 2,000m2 and which have a configuration making them suitable for sports pitches (whether they are so laid out or not).
- 2. The table excludes applications withdrawn by the applicant and applications where schools would retain the same, or a better, level of access to the same sports pitch or to an equivalent sports pitch.
- 3. The table includes applications from grant-maintained schools, where the application was made under section 231 of the Education Act 1996 but the decision was made in accordance with the draft criteria and then the criteria published in Circular No. 3/99, "The Protection of School Playing Fields". It also includes applications in respect of foundation and voluntary schools considered under Schedule 22 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 since 1 September 1999.
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many(a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools, (c) colleges of further education and (d) local authorities have (i) playing fields, (ii) sports pitches, (iii) swimming pools and (iv) athletic tracks; and if she will provide the figures for each year since 1992. [36726]
§ John HealeyAs part of the data collected for local education authorities asset management plans, the Department has information on the numbers of playing736W fields, team game playing fields and swimming pools at primary and secondary schools. The team game playing field data do not distinguish between sports pitches, athletic tracks, or other outdoor team game areas. The Department is currently validating the data with a view to publishing the analysis later this year.
The data referred to above were collected mainly in 2000. The Department does not hold data for previous or subsequent years.
737WThe Department does not hold the requested information for colleges of further education or for local authorities.