Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anne Milton and Karen Buck

Monday 17th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Anne Milton]

I will happily join my hon. Friend in congratulating that institution. What a wonderful story it is. Apprenticeships are how we ensure that young people have opportunities that would otherwise not be open to them.

[Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)]

T6. New figures show that primary schools in my borough of Westminster are now operating with one in five places unfilled, meaning that some schools will be threatened with closure. Will the Minister tell us when conversations were last had with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to establish why we are exporting families from an area with a surplus of school places to boroughs with a shortage?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anne Milton and Karen Buck

Monday 10th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[Anne Milton]

I know that the hon. Lady is a doughty champion of her local college and all the work it does, but it has to be remembered that FE and sixth-form colleges are independent organisations—I think that people forget that or are unaware of it. I have recognised—[Interruption.] I have made it clear that I recognise that providers feel that the base rate is too low. There is a post-18 review coming along, and we need to make sure that it aligns well with our work on the resilience and efficiency of the FE sector. I am aware of the pressures, however, and I am sure that the hon. Lady, like the hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Nic Dakin), will make her representation to the Treasury for improved funding.

[Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)]

2. What estimate he has made of the number of surplus primary school places in Westminster.