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EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Learning and Skills Council

Mr. Woolas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on his plans for the location of the local arms of the Learning and Skills Council. [112499]

Mr. Wicks: My noble Friend the Minister for Education and Employment in the Lords announced in October 1999 the boundaries of the 47 local arms of the Learning and Skills Council. She is today announcing, subject to the passage of the legislation to set up the Learning and Skills Council, the location of the offices of the local Councils. In reaching decisions, she has taken account of the need to get best value for public money by using, where appropriate, premises currently occupied by Training and Enterprise Councils, and of the need for locations that will facilitate effective operation of the LSC.

The announcement relates to England only. Letters giving details have today been sent to all hon. Members with English constituencies, the contents of which have been placed in the Library.

Euro

Mr. Portillo: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much money has been spent to date by his Department and by bodies funded by his Department in connection with the National Changeover Plan; on what headings this money has been spent; and how much his Department plans to spend on implementing the plan over the next 12 months. [112148]

Mr. Wills: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply given today by my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary.

Surplus School Places

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, what his policy is on surplus places in schools and if he will list the (a) numbers and (b) percentages of surplus places in each local education authority in England. [112646]

Ms Estelle Morris: The focus of all our policies is raising educational standards. Maintaining empty school places is a poor use of resources which could be better directed towards improving standards. When planning school provision, local education authorities should consider the options for removing surplus places, initially focusing on those schools with a quarter or more of their places unfilled and with particular regard to standards at those schools. The aim should be to bring the supply and demand for school places more closely together, maximise parental preference and provide good quality education in the most cost effective way. The Department collects information on surplus places annually which provides an opportunity to monitor the position in each authority.

The tables set out the numbers of surplus places as at January 1999 for each local authority area, listing primary and secondary separately, together with the proportion that these represent of total capacity. They also include the numbers of schools which at that date had surplus of

29 Feb 2000 : Column: 239W

25 per cent. or more, and at least 30 surplus places, together with the proportion that these represent of the total number of schools. The data are drawn from the returns made during 1999 by local education authorities in respect of all maintained primary and secondary schools in their area. Included for the first time are a number of former grant-maintained schools for which data were not previously available. The returns indicate that there were 732,366 surplus school places in January 1999, representing 9 per cent. of the total capacity of 7.8 million places. This is an overall reduction of just over 29,305

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places on 1998 figures. The number of schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more, and at least 30 surplus places, also fell by 138 to 2,391, which represents 11 per cent. of the total number of schools.

The returns also provide the Department with details of what action authorities propose to take on schools with 25 per cent. or more surplus. The returns indicate that in many cases action is being taken. Where there is no indication of action to reduce surplus and no substantial reasons given, the Department will be taking follow-up action with these authorities.

29 Feb 2000 : Column: 239W

Surplus places by local authority area at January 1999

	Primary (16)				Secondary
	Actual surplus (17)		Schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more (18)		Actual surplus (17)		Schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more (18)
LEA	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage
301 Barking and Dagenham	1,164	7	3	6	811	7	0	0
302 Barnet	1,384	6	5	5	1,060	5	1	5
370 Barnsley	1,468	7	2	2	1,571	11	2	14
800 Bath and North East Somerset	1,127	8	3	4	970	8	2	15
820 Bedfordshire	3,548	13	21	14	5,340	13	11	19
303 Bexley	829	4	1	2	1,405	8	1	6
330 Birmingham	7,600	7	25	8	5,717	8	8	10
889 Blackburn with Darwen	855	6	4	7	509	5	0	0
890 Blackpool	393	3	1	3	704	9	2	25
350 Bolton	1,872	7	11	10	883	5	1	6
837 Bournemouth	390	4	1	4	778	8	1	10
867 Bracknell Forest	678	7	2	6	926	13	1	17
380 Bradford	5,021	13	26	16	5,195	11	17	21
304 Brent	1,837	9	6	10	1,489	10	1	8
846 Brighton and Hove	2,026	11	10	16	1,503	12	2	20
801 Bristol	2,508	8	12	10	3,777	18	7	32
305 Bromley	425	2	1	1	528	3	0	0
825 Buckinghamshire	6,125	13	46	23	1,378	5	3	9
351 Bury	581	4	3	4	290	3	0	0
381 Calderdale	1,588	8	7	8	1,069	7	0	0
873 Cambridgeshire	3,461	7	14	7	1,123	4	1	3
202 Camden	549	5	1	2	697	6	1	10
875 Cheshire	6,806	11	35	12	3,509	7	4	9
831 City of Derby	1,505	7	5	6	2,533	15	3	21
810 City of Kingston upon Hull	5,125	18	20	25	2,861	16	5	31
201 City of London	10	5	0	0	--	--	--	--
892 City of Nottingham	3,359	12	21	21	4,763	26	10	48
874 City of Peterborough	1,661	10	7	12	1,186	9	2	15
879 City of Plymouth	4,622	18	23	29	1,875	9	2	11
213 City of Westminster	487	5	1	3	796	10	2	25
908 Cornwall	2,608	6	16	7	324	1	0	0
331 Coventry	3,114	10	13	15	2,268	10	3	16
306 Croydon	1,355	5	3	3	2,060	12	2	10
909 Cumbria	5,133	11	44	15	3,637	10	6	14
841 Darlington	736	8	6	16	1,128	17	2	29
830 Derbyshire	5,549	9	39	11	4,854	10	9	19
878 Devon	4,266	7	18	6	1,819	5	1	3
371 Doncaster	5,865	18	30	27	2,826	12	3	18
835 Dorset	2,096	8	9	7	2,279	8	2	5
332 Dudley	2,981	10	12	15	1,009	5	1	5
840 Durham	6,157	13	50	20	4,728	13	8	22
307 Ealing	2,796	11	8	12	276	2	0	0
811 East Riding of Yorkshire	2,601	9	17	13	1,357	6	1	6
845 East Sussex	2,441	6	11	7	1,703	6	1	4
308 Enfield	938	4	3	5	1,551	7	1	6
881 Essex	9,379	8	33	7	9,384	10	8	10
390 Gateshead	1,668	9	8	11	1,016	8	0	0
916 Gloucestershire	4,963	10	20	8	2,320	6	5	12
203 Greenwich	2,106	10	5	7	1,673	12	1	7
204 Hackney	1,679	10	7	12	1,058	12	0	0
876 Halton	3,183	21	18	33	1,140	12	2	22
205 Hammersmith and Fulham	955	10	5	14	926	13	2	25
850 Hampshire	9,490	8	38	9	5,462	8	5	7
309 Haringey	617	3	2	3	1,042	9	0	0
310 Harrow	1,340	7	1	2	971	11	2	20
805 Hartlepool	755	8	2	7	657	9	0	0
311 Havering	1,217	6	2	3	2,098	13	3	17
884 Herefordshire	1,639	10	9	11	1,320	13	4	29
919 Hertfordshire	7,885	8	38	9	9,426	12	14	16
312 Hillingdon	1,293	6	2	3	900	6	1	7
313 Hounslow	2,011	11	7	11	659	4	0	0
921 Isle of Wight	371	5	1	2	615	5	0	0
420 Isles of Scilly	85	39	2	50	49	31	1	100
206 Islington	1,930	12	7	14	1,291	15	2	22
207 Kensington and Chelsea	1,144	16	7	27	756	18	1	25
886 Kent	6,309	6	18	4	10,107	11	12	11
314 Kingston upon Thames	69	1	0	0	631	7	0	0
382 Kirklees	2,644	7	8	5	2,277	8	3	9
340 Knowsley	2,742	15	13	22	1,859	16	1	9
208 Lambeth	2,352	12	9	13	1,611	19	3	30
888 Lancashire	9,889	9	57	11	6,500	8	12	13
383 Leeds	8,953	13	46	19	5,602	11	9	20
856 Leicester City	4,160	14	18	21	3,795	18	8	38
855 Leicestershire	2,990	6	11	5	4,791	10	10	18
209 Lewisham	951	5	3	4	2,318	17	2	15
925 Lincolnshire	4,937	9	36	12	4,389	10	10	16
341 Liverpool	7,571	16	29	18	5,019	14	6	17
821 Luton	2,355	11	7	11	772	6	0	0
352 Manchester	7,215	16	30	19	6,161	22	12	43
887 Medway	1,506	6	7	8	2,557	12	4	20
315 Merton	873	6	5	10	1,202	14	2	18
806 Middlesbrough	1,412	9	1	2	975	10	1	9
826 Milton Keynes	3,885	15	18	21	1,358	11	3	30
391 Newcastle upon Tyne	3,692	16	22	29	2,160	11	4	19
315 Newham	810	3	2	3	1,396	8	0	0
926 Norfolk	4,722	7	20	5	3,700	8	5	10
812 North East Lincolnshire	2,684	15	13	20	1,788	14	3	25
813 North Lincolnshire	1,463	10	6	9	1,325	11	3	21
802 North Somerset	886	6	2	3	984	8	0	0
392 North Tyneside	2,486	15	11	20	2,274	14	5	22
815 North Yorkshire	5,609	11	31	9	2,196	6	3	6
928 Northamptonshire	4,728	9	26	10	4,626	9	10	16
929 Northumberland	3,414	15	27	19	4,377	13	13	21
891 Nottinghamshire	5,203	8	21	7	9,751	16	15	26
353 Oldham	2,224	10	12	12	1,162	7	2	13
931 Oxfordshire	4,741	10	23	10	5,408	13	6	13
836 Poole	506	4	1	3	430	5	1	11
851 Portsmouth	1,368	8	6	11	151	2	0	0
870 Reading	813	8	5	13	1,769	22	3	38
317 Redbridge	964	5	1	2	486	3	1	7
807 Redcar and Cleveland	1,453	10	5	9	1,274	11	2	15
318 Richmond upon Thames	286	3	0	0	519	7	1	13
354 Rochdale	1,262	6	2	3	1,747	11	3	21
372 Rotherham	2,242	9	6	5	1,455	7	1	6
868 Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead	398	5	2	4	785	8	2	14
857 Rutland	660	21	3	17	262	12	1	33
355 Salford	3,881	16	21	24	2,882	19	5	29
333 Sandwell	1,725	6	5	5	2,613	12	2	10
343 Sefton	3,237	12	18	19	1,633	8	3	14
373 Sheffield	4,249	9	18	12	2,071	7	1	4
893 Shropshire	2,674	11	18	12	1,149	7	1	5
871 Slough	785	7	0	0	366	5	0	0
334 Solihull	1,277	6	5	7	707	5	1	8
933 Somerset	2,524	6	9	4	3,993	12	6	15
803 South Gloucestershire	1,734	7	7	7	946	6	1	7
393 South Tyneside	1,940	13	9	16	1,356	12	2	18
852 Southampton	2,335	12	12	17	925	7	0	0
882 Southend	891	6	1	2	1,074	9	1	8
210 Southwark	2,034	9	6	8	1,277	12	3	23
342 St. Helens	1,556	9	7	11	959	8	0	0
860 Staffordshire	8,121	11	40	13	1,661	3	3	4
356 Stockport	2,235	8	9	9	1,368	8	0	0
808 Stockton-on-Tees	1,751	9	5	8	1,359	10	2	14
861 Stoke on Trent	3,907	15	19	22	1,567	10	3	18
935 Suffolk	4,863	10	26	10	5,061	9	6	8
394 Sunderland	3,813	13	17	18	1,276	6	1	6
936 Surrey	9,658	11	44	13	4,200	8	6	11
319 Sutton	322	2	0	0	435	3	0	0
866 Swindon	1,864	10	10	14	1,299	11	1	9
357 Tameside	1,148	5	4	5	1,003	7	2	11
894 Telford and Wrekin	840	5	1	2	891	9	2	15
883 Thurrock	1,556	10	4	9	1,868	19	3	30
880 Torbay	238	3	2	6	117	1	0	0
211 Tower Hamlets	2,667	12	9	12	1,400	9	1	7
358 Trafford	1,362	7	4	5	1,177	7	1	6
384 Wakefield	2,851	9	12	9	1,534	7	2	11
335 Walsall	2,873	11	11	11	1,384	6	1	5
320 Waltham Forest	1,537	7	5	8	1,190	9	1	6
212 Wandsworth	1,493	9	5	8	728	7	1	11
877 Warrington	2,428	12	14	19	752	6	0	0
937 Warwickshire	7,060	15	39	20	3,283	10	5	14
869 West Berkshire	1,132	9	3	4	531	5	2	18
938 West Sussex	5,398	8	20	8	4,818	11	5	13
359 Wigan	3,292	11	22	20	1,184	6	2	10
865 Wiltshire	4,081	10	32	15	2,523	9	3	9
344 Wirral	3,799	12	18	18	2,235	9	2	9
872 Wokingham	735	6	5	9	252	2	0	0
336 Wolverhampton	2,816	11	13	14	1,834	11	4	22
885 Worcestershire	4,397	10	17	9	4,629	11	9	15
816 York	1,938	13	11	18	1,285	12	4	33
Total	415,794	9	1,930	11	316,572	9	461	13

(16) Primary figures show surplus after taking account of any summer entry

(17) Actual surplus is defined as the difference between capacity and number on roll for all schools where capacity exceeds number on roll

(18) Schools with less than 30 surplus places are not included

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29 Feb 2000 : Column: 243W

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