Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of sites to be purchased by LocatED by 2019; and how many and what proportion of those sites will be intentionally temporary.

By the end of September 2017, there will be 474 open free schools, including 52 new schools opening this month. There are a further 321 schools aiming to open in future years. Opening on temporary sites enables school places to be available to parents sooner than if new schools opened only in their permanent accommodation.

One of LocatED’s key aims is to reduce the requirement for temporary sites by securing permanent sites quicker than previously. LocatED is currently commissioned to provide 141 sites for free schools and we anticipate that they will have exchanged on the majority by 2019. Of the current commissions, 19 are for temporary sites.