Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the movements of families housed in temporary accommodation during 2024 and 2025 on schools’ numbers and transience in schools’ populations.

The department does not specifically collect data on how the movements of families housed in temporary accommodation affect pupil numbers. However, it collects pupil forecasts from local authorities through the school capacity survey. These forecasts draw on local knowledge of birth rates, housing developments and migration, and are published on GOV.UK at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity/2024-25.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to secure sufficient school places. The department monitors the pupil forecast and school capacity data they submit and regularly engages with them to review plans for creating additional places where needed.

The department also provides capital funding through the basic need grant to support local authorities to provide mainstream school places, based on the data. We have announced over £2.5 billion to support the creation of places needed between May 2024 and September 2028, including over £103 million for Birmingham City Council. Basic need allocations are published on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-need-allocations.