Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reasons school reserves are included in local authority balance sheet reserves.

The reserves of local authority maintained schools are included in local authority balance sheet reserves. This is because those schools are subject to a level of local authority control. However the reserves of local authority maintained schools are ringfenced, which means that they cannot be diverted for non-schools purposes. The reserves of academies and free schools are not included in local authority balance sheet reserves.