§ 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. Timms[pursuant to his reply, 25 February 2002, c. 730-34W]: A column was omitted from the table. The corrected table follows.
Although 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.
1300W
Applications to dispose of school sports pitches that have been determined by the Secretary of State LEA School name Date applied Result of application Barnet Ashmole 15 December 1998 Approved Bedfordshire Silver Jubilee Middle 30 April 1999 Approved Bedfordshire Ashton St. Peter VA 29 September 2000 Approved Birmingham Broadway 11 June 2001 Approved Blackpool Collegiate High 13 December 1999 Approved Bolton St. James's CE 24 July 1998 Approved Bristol Monks Park Secondary 28 October 1998 Approved Buckinghamshire Bellfield First and Middle 22 February 1999 Approved Buckinghamshire Terriers County First 10 May 1999 Approved Buckinghamshire Downley Middle 12 January 2000 Approved Buckinghamshire Heights First 12 January 2000 Approved Calderdale Brooksbank 1 July 1998 Approved Cheshire St. James CE Junior 30 November 1998 Approved Cheshire Colshaw CP 30 June 1999 Approved Cheshire Westlands High 17 November 1999 Approved Cheshire Manor Park Infant 27 November 2000 Approved Cheshire Brookside County Infant 5 February 2001 Approved Croydon Haling Manor High 4 January 1999 Approved Derbyshire Noel Baker Community 2 November 1998 Approved Derbyshire Western Mere 2 February 1999 Approved Derbyshire Pingle 26 July 2000 Approved Devon Highweek Primary 17 August 1999 Approved Dorset Fosters 7 December 1998 Approved Dudley Colley Lane Primary 11 October 2001 Approved Dudley Summerhill Secondary 11 October 2001 Approved Durham The Avenue Comprehensive 19 May 1999 Approved Durham Westwood Primary 31 July 2000 Approved Essex The Stanway 17 November 1998 Approved Essex Moulsham High 18 January 1999 Approved Essex Oakview Special 10 April 2000 Approved Essex Tabor High 29 January 2001 Approved Gloucestershire Churchdown 3 December 1997 Approved Gloucestershire The Catholic School of St. Gregory the Great 26 July 1999 Approved Gloucestershire Oxstalls Community 25 November 1999 Approved Halton Ashley Special 6 November 1998 Approved Hammersmith and Fulham Gibbs Green Special 8 March 1999 Approved Hammersmith and Fulham Burlington Danes 16 March 1999 Approved Havering Frances Bardsley School for Girls 13 August 1999 Approved 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 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.
1301W
Applications to dispose of school sports pitches that have been determined by the Secretary of State LEA School name Date applied Result of application Kent St. Thomas' Special 12 May 1999 Approved Kent St. Simon Stock 13 December 1999 Approved Kent Allhallows Primary 12 July 2001 Approved Knowsley Sylvester 12 August 1999 Approved Lancashire St. Richards RC High 15 December 1998 Approved Lancashire St. Thomas Acquinas RC High 5 February 1999 Approved Lancashire Baines High 15 November 2000 Approved Leeds Lawnswood 21 November 2000 Approved Leeds Oakwood Primary 21 November 2000 Approved Leeds Roundhay 21 November 2000 Approved Leeds Wetherby High 19 September 2001 Approved Liverpool Childwall Comprehensive 9 April 2001 Approved Milton Keynes Denbigh 16 November 1998 Approved Milton Keynes Castles First 6 August 1999 Approved Norfolk Redgate Middle 12 April 2000 Approved North East Lincs Hereford Technology College 13 November 2000 Approved North Tyneside St. Mary's RC 22 December 1998 Approved North Yorkshire Settle CE Primary 20 November 1998 Approved Northamptonshire John Lea Secondary 14 August 2000 Approved Northumberland St. Benet Biscop RC Aided High 5 February 1999 Approved Northumberland Gallowhill Hall Special 18 February 2000 Approved Nottinghamshire Manor Comprehensive 14 April 2000 Approved Nottinghamshire Lincoln Street Infant 14 July 2000 Approved Oldham Kaskenmoor Secondary 29 October 1999 Approved Oxfordshire Wallingford 16 June 2000 Approved Peterborough The King's 8 May 1998 Rejected Peterborough Deacons 28 July 1998 Rejected Peterborough The King's 27 September 2000 Approved Rochdale Spring Hill High 7 May 1999 Approved Rochdale Middleton Technology 28 March 2001 Approved Sefton Litherland Moss County Primary 22 March 1999 Approved Shropshire Lower Grove 2 February 2001 Approved Somerset King Arthur's Comprehensive 24 March 1999 Approved Somerset Ladymead Comprehensive 6 April 1999 Approved Staffordshire Sir Graham Balfour High 25 June 1999 Approved Surrey Rosebery 6 January 1998 Approved Surrey Okewood District CE 30 November 1998 Approved Surrey Merland Rise CP 8 January 1999 Approved Surrey Banstead County Junior School and St. Anne's RC Primary 27 May 1999 Approved Surrey Park Mead Junior 8 March 2000 Approved Surrey Boxgrove Primary 13 April 2000 Approved Tameside Egerton Park High 17 January 2000 Approved Telford and Wrekin Blessed Robert Johnson 26 March 1999 Approved Wakefield South Elmsall Middle 10 December 1998 Approved Wakefield Kinsley First 13 January 1999 Approved Wakefield Kinsley First 30 July 1999 Approved Walsall Beacon 18 December 1998 Approved Walsall St. Thomas More Catholic Comprehensive 18 April 2001 Approved Warwickshire Attleborough First 11 December 1998 Approved Warwickshire Exhall First 21 July 1999 Approved Warwickshire Binley Woods First 3 August 1999 Approved Warwickshire Stratford-upon-Avon High 14 August 2000 Approved Warwickshire Marie Corelli 21 August 2000 Approved West Sussex Hazelwick 7 February 2000 Approved Wigan Hindley Borsdane Brook Special 11 February 1999 Approved Wigan Rose Hill Special 11 February 1999 Approved Wigan Tyldesley Highfield Special 11 February 1999 Approved Wigan Orrell Holgate Primary 4 December 2000 Approved Wiltshire Castle Combe Primary 7 August 2000 Approved Wolverhampton St. Peters Collegiate 25 November 1998 Approved Wolverhampton Aldersley High 4 December 1998 Approved Worcestershire Callowbrook First 6 November 2000 Approved Notes:
1302W
- 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 2,000 m2, 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.