Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the number of school-age children living in areas where the only state schools within reasonable travelling distance are faith schools.

Mr David Laws

We have made no such estimate. Local authorities have responsibility for securing sufficient school places to meet the needs of their local communities and have the statutory duties and powers to support that. They must also ensure that the balance of different types of provision meets local demand and that they make suitable transport arrangements for eligible pupils.

The Government does recognise the need to ensure that new provision meets the needs of the whole community. New academies and free schools with a religious designation may only prioritise up to 50% of pupils on the basis of faith-related admissions criteria.