Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations she has received from local authorities about overprovision of school places in areas where a free school or schools are (a) established or (b) proposed.

Regional Schools Commissioners hold regular meetings with local authorities to determine where there is a need for additional school places that could be met through establishing a free school. In addition, the department seeks local authorities’ comments on each new application for a free school and, for applications approved into the pre-opening stage, we seek their views as part of our statutory duty under section 9 of the Academies Act 2010 to assess the impact of establishing a new school on existing schools and colleges.