answer text |
<p>Since January 2013, the Secretary of State for Education has received:</p><ul><li>1
application from Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, this is currently being considered.</li><li>4
applications from Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, all have been approved.</li><li>19
applications from the Greater Manchester combined authority, 1 is being considered
and the other 18 have been approved.</li></ul><p>These figures include applications
in those local authorities relating to land held by Academy Trusts under a lease from
the local authority.</p><p>The Education Act 2011 requires that the Secretary of State
must give consent prior to the disposal of land which has been used for any school
or academy in the last eight years. Secretary of State consent is also required under
section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 where local authorities
wish to dispose of playing field land that has been used by a school in the last ten
years. A key consideration for the government is whether the land proposed for disposal
could be suitable for use by a new school.</p><p>There are a range of reasons for
these disposals. Some disposals are leases from the academy trustees back to the local
authority, which allow a children’s centre on site to continue or which provide land
for another school. A substantial number of consents refer to local authority maintained
school sites for outright disposals where the school has closed or relocated to a
new build site.</p>
|
|