Bradley Thomas

Local authorities are responsible for providing enough school places for children in their area. Where the need for a new school has been identified, local authorities must currently seek proposals for a new academy, or free school, under section 6A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. This is known as the ‘free school presumption’ process.

Changes to the legal framework for opening new schools will be introduced through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. The measures will remove the legal presumption that all new schools are opened as academies, allowing local authorities to welcome proposals for all types of school and to put forward their own proposals where they choose to do so. This will ensure new schools are simply opened by the provider with the best offer for local children and families.

The department provides the Basic Need capital grant to support local authorities to provide mainstream school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and capacity data. We provide High Needs Provision capital allocations to support the provision of new places and improve existing provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities or requiring alternative provision. Local authorities can use this funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools.

Financial contributions from housing developers are also an important way of helping to meet demand for new school places when housing developments are driving pupil numbers. It is for the Local Planning Authority (LPA) to secure developer contributions through section 106 agreements or the Community Infrastructure Levy and to decide on the local infrastructure needs that this contribution should support. The department encourages LPAs to secure significant contributions for new school places and work closely with colleagues planning school places in their area, including county councils when the local authority responsible for education is not the LPA.

There are no centrally-delivered free school projects currently planned for the Bromsgrove area.

This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member for Bromsgrove directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Student loans are subject to interest to ensure that those who can afford to do so contribute to the full cost of their degree, irrespective of the subject studied. The student loan system has significant borrower protections, and the government has not made an assessment of the impact of making interest rates dependent on the course studied.

Interest rates on student loans do not affect monthly repayments made by borrowers. Regular repayments are based on a fixed percentage of earnings above the applicable student loan repayment threshold, not on amount borrowed or the rate of interest. If a borrower’s income drops, so does the amount they repay. If income is below the relevant student loan repayment threshold, or a borrower is not earning, then they do not have to make repayments at all. Any outstanding debt, including interest built up, is written off after the loan term ends, or in case of death or disability, at no detriment to the borrower.

Interest rates are set annually in relation to the Retail Price Index (RPI). The government caps maximum student loan rates when needed to ensure that student loan interest rates do not exceed market rates for comparable unsecured personal loans.

The government is determined that the higher education funding system should deliver for our economy, for universities, and for students. The department is considering the system and will continue to engage with stakeholders on this.

This government has an ambitious plan for re-building Britain, delivering 1.5 million homes in England in this Parliament.

We want to support employers, including in construction, to develop the skills they need to thrive. That is why we are widening the apprenticeships offer into a levy-funded growth and skills offer, with apprenticeships at the heart, which will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers in England. As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country, and providing high-quality entry pathways for young people.

In addition, around 5,000 more construction apprenticeship places will be made available per year by the 2027/28 financial year thanks to an £140 million industry investment to get Britain building again.

32 new Homebuilding Skills Hubs will deliver fast-track training in critical areas such as bricklaying, groundwork, and site carpentry, to boost housebuilding and drive forward the government’s growth mission.

This government is committed to ending the VAT exemption that private schools enjoy. Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies indicates that the number of pupils who may switch schools as a result of this change is likely to represent a very small proportion of overall pupil numbers in the state sector and any displacement would be expected to take place over several years. This research can be found here: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/tax-private-school-fees-and-state-school-spending.

There is significant spare capacity in existing state schools. The department collects pupil forecasts and school capacity data from local authorities annually through the School Capacity survey and this data shows that in May 2023, 11.7% of primary capacity and 11.5% of secondary capacity was unfilled nationally, meaning school places are available in many parts of the country. The department will monitor demand and capacity using our normal processes and continue to work with local authorities to meet any pressures.

This government fully supports freedom of speech and academic freedom. Higher education (HE) must be a space for robust discussion and intellectual rigour. This is enshrined within the existing legislation, whereby universities have a legal obligation to protect lawful freedom of speech, and protections for free speech are also set out in the requirements in the Office for Students’ Regulatory Framework.

In addition, the government took the decision to pause implementation of further parts of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act because it wants to consider the impact of the Act and make sure that it effectively protects freedom of speech.

The department is continuing to meet with a full range of stakeholders, including academics with concerns about constraints on freedom of speech. This will feed into decision making on the future of the Act and this government’s longer-term policy on protecting freedom of speech across the HE sector.

Communities at risk of flooding in the Bromsgrove constituency include Hagley, Hollywood and Bromsgrove itself. At present, there have been no reports to the Environment Agency (EA) of property flooding in this constituency during the recent wet weather.

The EA has been supporting Worcestershire County Council as the Lead Local Flood Authority and Bromsgrove District Council, to establish flood risk management projects on the 2021-2027 Flood and Coastal Risk Management Investment Programme. Over £300,000 has been invested to date with a further £600,000 planned to be invested over the next 3 years. The projects aim to better protect 155 properties from flooding by March 2027 through Property Level Resilience interventions across Bromsgrove and Redditch Council areas.

The EA are engaging with the community at Hagley and Bromsgrove via flood action groups and responding to direct enquiries from residents.

A Flood Warning Service is available to over 900 homes and businesses at risk of flooding from main rivers in the constituency. The EA will continue to work with partners towards raising awareness of flood risk in the area to support community resilience.