Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in what circumstances he would terminate a leasehold agreement with an academy trust prior to the expiration of a 125-year agreement.

We have published guidance which sets out how publicly funded land and school playing fields are protected. This guidance is available at:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/protection-of-school-playing-fields-and-public-land-advice

If land ceases, or will cease, to be used for an academy, the Secretary of State may need to make a determination in order to protect the public investment in the land. The Secretary of State will consider a range of factors including:

1. the degree of public investment in the land and the degree of any enhancement to the value attributable to that investment;

2. the degree of private investment in the land and the degree of any enhancement to the value attributable to that investment;

3. the length of time that the land has been in public use;

4. the value of the land at the date of determination.

Information about the number of academies where land has been transferred from a governing body to an academy trust is not held centrally and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.