Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33136, on how many occasions has a child’s admission been directed by (a) the Schools Adjudicator after it was sought by a local authority and (b) the Education Funding Agency in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb

The Education Funding Agency (EFA) was established in April 2012. It does not have direction powers in its own right but instead issues directions on behalf of the Secretary of State. Since being established it has directed academies to admit pupils twelve times.

The Schools Adjudicator (OSA) does not issue directions in relation to maintained schools but will determine the case if a school which a local authority is seeking to direct refers the case on to the adjudicator. Data is not available for 2015-16 but between 2010 and 2015, it has upheld thirteen directions.

The table below sets out the directions issued or upheld in each of the past five years: