Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Department for Education
Monday 20th March 2017

(7 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Edward Timpson Portrait Edward Timpson
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With an eight-week-old baby, I am not sleeping particularly well at the moment. However, business rates are funded, and a consultation is taking place to try to ensure that the funding we have available for schools, which is at record levels, is distributed as fairly as possible.

Lucy Allan Portrait Lucy Allan (Telford) (Con)
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19. What measures will the Minister take to ensure that selective and top-performing secondary schools such as Thomas Telford School in my constituency are accessible to children irrespective of their backgrounds?

Edward Timpson Portrait Edward Timpson
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As part of the consultation, we propose a number of conditions that would make new selective schools more accessible to children from low-income backgrounds. We are analysing all the responses we have had to the consultation, which I am sure include responses from my hon. Friend’s constituency, and we plan to publish a formal response in the spring.