Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance, if any, they have issued to local authorities on consulting local people on proposals for new voluntary-aided schools that select 100 per cent of their pupils based on their religion.

Alongside the launch of the capital scheme for new voluntary-aided schools, the department published updated statutory guidance on opening and closing maintained schools for proposers and decision makers. This document is attached.

Proposers are required to consult prior to publishing statutory proposals for a new school and hold a 4 week representation period following the publication of the statutory proposals. Any comments received during the representation period must be taken into account by the decision-maker (normally the local authority) when making their decision.

The statutory guidance sets out the department’s expectations on how the consultations are carried out, including the Cabinet Office guidance on consultation principles.