Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of applications to (a) open and (b) take over an (i) academy, (ii) free school and (iii) faith school that were rejected because the applicant was unable to provide satisfactory assurances on the education and protection of (A) girls and (B) LGBT+ pupils.

The department considers a range of information when considering applications to open and take over an academy, free school and faith school in England, including information relating to the public sector equality duty.

The department does not always specifically request or record information on the impact of the change on the education and protection of girls and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender+ pupils, unless it is relevant to a particular application. We do not hold sufficient information on applications rejected on these grounds to provide an estimate.