Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department has spent on purchasing temporary sites for free schools; and how much has been spent to date on each such site.

The length of time it takes to acquire a site, secure planning permission and then build a school can mean that it is sometimes necessary for a school to open in temporary accommodation. When we do open schools in temporary accommodation, we undertake a value for money assessment and ensure that all temporary accommodation is safe and suitable for educational purposes.

Up until the end of the 2016/17 academic year, the Department had opened 234 free schools in temporary accommodation at a projected cost of £126 million. This figure includes the cost of any temporary sites purchased as well as additional capital costs spent on temporary accommodation.