Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Gibb and John Grogan

Monday 10th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[John Grogan (Keighley) (Lab)]

T8. Do Ministers accept figures from the Local Government Association that suggest there will be a shortage of 134,000 secondary school places in five years’ time? Should well-performing local authorities not be able to open new schools?

[Nick Gibb]

The hon. Gentleman should know that since 2010, we have created 825,000 school places and are on track to have 1 million new school places. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said, that is the biggest school expansion programme for at least two generations. That is in sharp contrast with what happened between 2004 and 2010 under the last Labour Government, which cut 100,000 school places from our system.