Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2024 to Question 13588, on Academies, how her Department monitors whether capital receipts from the disposal of publicly funded playing fields by an academy trust are reinvested in improving sports provision at (a) the affected school and (b) local schools.

Consent to the freehold sale of publicly funded playing field land by an academy trust will usually be subject to a condition specifying how the capital receipt should be reinvested.

The department requires the trust’s Accounting Officer to sign and return an acknowledgement letter attached to the consent letter confirming that the trust will comply with all conditions of consent. Failure to comply with any conditions will mean that the trust may be in breach of its funding agreement.

Departmental officials will only mark a case closed once the signed acknowledgement letter is received by the department.