Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will allocate additional funding to local authorities which have a shortfall of nursery and school places to expand existing schools.

Supporting local authorities to create places where they are needed most is one of the Department’s top priorities. We have committed £7billion in capital funding between 2015 and 2021 to help local authorities create places in reception to year 11. We have invited free schools to apply for capital funding for nursery provision, and local authorities have the freedom to spend some of their capital funding on nursery places if this is a local priority.