Until a decision has been made, the Department does not wish to name both schools in order to protect the Secretary of State’s decision making powers when considering whether to give consent.

The Secretary of State is currently considering two applications to dispose of school land in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Since February 2013, the Secretary of State has approved the following applications to dispose of school land from:

Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council:

• Mossley Hollins High School
• New Charter Academy, Silver Springs Campus
• Thomas Ashton Special School (Primary (Hyde) and Secondary Centre Sites)

Greater Manchester Combined Authority:

• Oldhams County Primary School
• Millwood Primary Special School
• Ewing School
• Ambrose Barlow High School
• Harrop Fold High School
• Our Lady and the Lancashire Martyrs Primary School
• Seedley Primary School
• St Joseph High School
• Tootal Drive Primary School
• Bedford Hall Methodist Nursery
• Ince St Mary’s Primary
• Nicole Mere Primary School
• Oakfield High School
• Marland Fold School
• Abraham Guest High School
• North Chadderton School
• South Chadderton School
• Failsworth School

The Education Funding Agency and the Independent School Playing Fields Panel who advise on playing field disposals will look at a range of factors before advising the Secretary of State on disposals, including any reduction in access to playing fields for the school, other local schools and the local community.

The Secretary of State is keen to ensure that education land is used to support the stated priority for the Department in ensuring that there are sufficient good quality school places in the system. In granting consent for any disposal of publicly-funded land, the Secretary of State takes into account whether there is a basic need for additional school places in the area, and whether the land could be used to support an academy or free school. The requirement for the Secretary of State’s consent to dispose of publicly funded land extends to former school sites that have been used as a school within the last 8 years. For former playing field sites, it extends to 10 years.

The Education Funding Agency and the Independent School Playing Fields Panel who advise on playing field disposals will look at a range of factors before advising the Secretary of State on disposals, including any reduction in access to playing fields for the school, other local schools and the local community.

Since January 2013, the Secretary of State for Education has received:

• 1 application from Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, this is currently being considered.
• 4 applications from Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, all have been approved.
• 19 applications from the Greater Manchester combined authority, 1 is being considered and the other 18 have been approved.

These figures include applications in those local authorities relating to land held by Academy Trusts under a lease from the local authority.

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.

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.

Since January 2013, the Secretary of State for Education has received:

• 1 application from Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, this is currently being considered.
• 4 applications from Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, all have been approved.
• 19 applications from the Greater Manchester combined authority, 1 is being considered and the other 18 have been approved.

These figures include applications in those local authorities relating to land held by Academy Trusts under a lease from the local authority.

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.

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.

The approach the Department for Education has adopted is to make the assessment of children’s rights an integral part of policy and legislative development rather than a one-off exercise. The results of this approach are reflected in the equality impact assessment published for the Education Act 2011.[1]

Our consideration of children’s rights during the legislative process also takes account of advice from the Joint Committee on Human Rights.

The Office of the Children’s Commissioner is an independent non-Departmental public body and is responsible for publishing the reports it produces.[2]

The ECHR and UNCRC note on the Children and Families Act 2014.[3]

[1] www.webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130802140618/https://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/e/the%20education%20act%202011%20equalities%20impact%20assessment.pdf

[2] www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk

[3] www.webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140430083435/http:/www.education.gov.uk/dfe/b00221161/children-families-bill

Keeping our children safe, and ensuring our schools prepare them for life in modern Britain, could not be more important. There is no place for extremist views in any school. A dedicated counter-extremism unit was established within the Department for Education in 2010 and has responsibility for implementing the commitments in the Prevent strategy. The Secretary of State’s statement to the House on 22 July, in response to Peter Clarke’s report into allegations about schools in Birmingham, set out the latest steps that the Government is taking to increase the resilience of schools to extremism, and the Secretary of State will be making a further statement to the House on this subject shortly.

Publicly-funded schools remain under a statutory duty to promote community cohesion and have an important part to play in supporting the creation of more integrated communities. This duty is complemented and reinforced by the requirements on schools to encourage respect for the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs. The Department has consulted on strengthening the independent schools standards, which apply to academies and free schools, to require schools to actively promote these values. Ofsted will introduce an equivalent expectation on maintained schools through changes to the Ofsted inspection framework later this year, supported by departmental guidance.

We have not undertaken any impact assessment on the balance of faith and non-faith school provision, as we expect the vast majority of schools to continue to be non-faith schools.

The Department has formed a new School Complaints Unit to improve its current school complaints handling procedures. This team will also undertake some of the preparations for the commencement of section 45 of the Education Act 2011. The unit is working alongside policy and correspondence teams as well as external organisations to make improvements to how complaints are managed in the Department.

This Government has, through the Education Act 2011, taken action to restore teachers' authority in the classroom by strengthening their powers to promote good behaviour and maintain discipline.

Early indications are that teachers are feeling more positive about the standard of pupils' behaviour in schools. The ‘National Foundation for Educational Research Teacher Voice Omnibus February 2012 survey: pupil behaviour’, published on 26 June, found that, of the teachers surveyed, more than three out of four (76%) said the standard of behaviour was ‘good’ or ‘very good’ in their schools. This is an increase of six percentage points compared with the previous survey in 2008. More than four out of five teachers (85%) felt well equipped to manage pupil behaviour. While these findings are encouraging, the survey also found that three out of five (60%) of teachers asked felt that ‘negative pupil behaviour is driving teachers out of the profession’. While this is a welcome decrease of eight percentage points from the 2008 survey, it shows there is still more to do. The survey's findings show how the Government's work to back teachers in improving behaviour is starting to deliver encouraging results.