Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of its proposed Management Information System procurement framework on the procurement freedoms conferred on schools and academy trusts by legislation.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has a legitimate interest in pursuing the maximisation of economy and efficiency in relation to services provided within the public education system and has sufficient general powers to pursue a central purchasing body procurement such as our Management Information System Framework and to request trusts use that service through the Academy Trust Handbook. Alongside services and frameworks, we are also supporting schools to take evidence-based approaches to help them plan and deploy their resources most effectively. Every pound saved on avoidable costs is a pound back in the classroom.