Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the article in The Times of 14 February 2017 in the name of the Minister of State for School Standards, what evidence her Department has for the positive response of the Archbishop of Canterbury to proposals to lift the 50 per cent cap on religious selection by free schools.

The Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury have responded positively to our proposal to expand the number of high-quality faith schools. The Church of England has worked with us to deliver new places through the free schools programme and they have opened 14 free schools to date.

As the Archbishop made clear in his article in the Times Education Supplement of 23 September 2016, the Church of England are drawing up ambitious plans to open many more free schools. We look forward to receiving those applications.