Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2026 to Question 99790 on Free Schools, if she will make it her policy to undertake a new assessment against the (a) selection criteria and (b) geographical context on Swift Academy.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The criteria for the mainstream free schools pipeline review were set out in the Written Ministerial Statement laid on 22 October 2024. The department assessed the local need for school places, value for money and whether projects would provide a distinctive local offer or risk negatively impacting other local schools.
The department has offered feedback to local authorities, trusts and MPs with a related pipeline free school project.
We keep all pipeline projects under review to ensure that they meet a need for places and represent value for public money. This includes the use of annually published pupil place planning data, which informs ministerial decision‑making.
In 2016, the previous government ran a central free school programme application wave, which was open to all trusts to submit proposals for new free schools. All applications received were assessed against the published selection criteria in the How To Apply Guidance.
Local consultation is also undertaken prior to the opening of any new free school, enabling residents and other interested parties to provide their views on the proposal.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2026 to Question 99790 on Free Schools, which trusts her Department invited in 2016.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The criteria for the mainstream free schools pipeline review were set out in the Written Ministerial Statement laid on 22 October 2024. The department assessed the local need for school places, value for money and whether projects would provide a distinctive local offer or risk negatively impacting other local schools.
The department has offered feedback to local authorities, trusts and MPs with a related pipeline free school project.
We keep all pipeline projects under review to ensure that they meet a need for places and represent value for public money. This includes the use of annually published pupil place planning data, which informs ministerial decision‑making.
In 2016, the previous government ran a central free school programme application wave, which was open to all trusts to submit proposals for new free schools. All applications received were assessed against the published selection criteria in the How To Apply Guidance.
Local consultation is also undertaken prior to the opening of any new free school, enabling residents and other interested parties to provide their views on the proposal.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2026 to Question 99790 on Free Schools, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the surplus of school places in Walsall and Bloxwich constituency on the decision whether to proceed with the Swift Academy.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The criteria for the mainstream free schools pipeline review were set out in the Written Ministerial Statement laid on 22 October 2024. The department assessed the local need for school places, value for money and whether projects would provide a distinctive local offer or risk negatively impacting other local schools.
The department has offered feedback to local authorities, trusts and MPs with a related pipeline free school project.
We keep all pipeline projects under review to ensure that they meet a need for places and represent value for public money. This includes the use of annually published pupil place planning data, which informs ministerial decision‑making.
In 2016, the previous government ran a central free school programme application wave, which was open to all trusts to submit proposals for new free schools. All applications received were assessed against the published selection criteria in the How To Apply Guidance.
Local consultation is also undertaken prior to the opening of any new free school, enabling residents and other interested parties to provide their views on the proposal.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2026 to Question 99790 on Free Schools, what steps her Department is taking to assess the (a) need for places and (b) value for money of the Swift Academy; and if she will publish that assessment.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The criteria for the mainstream free schools pipeline review were set out in the Written Ministerial Statement laid on 22 October 2024. The department assessed the local need for school places, value for money and whether projects would provide a distinctive local offer or risk negatively impacting other local schools.
The department has offered feedback to local authorities, trusts and MPs with a related pipeline free school project.
We keep all pipeline projects under review to ensure that they meet a need for places and represent value for public money. This includes the use of annually published pupil place planning data, which informs ministerial decision‑making.
In 2016, the previous government ran a central free school programme application wave, which was open to all trusts to submit proposals for new free schools. All applications received were assessed against the published selection criteria in the How To Apply Guidance.
Local consultation is also undertaken prior to the opening of any new free school, enabling residents and other interested parties to provide their views on the proposal.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2026 to Question 99790 on Free Schools, if she will publish the criteria used to determine which free schools should be proceeded with.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The criteria for the mainstream free schools pipeline review were set out in the Written Ministerial Statement laid on 22 October 2024. The department assessed the local need for school places, value for money and whether projects would provide a distinctive local offer or risk negatively impacting other local schools.
The department has offered feedback to local authorities, trusts and MPs with a related pipeline free school project.
We keep all pipeline projects under review to ensure that they meet a need for places and represent value for public money. This includes the use of annually published pupil place planning data, which informs ministerial decision‑making.
In 2016, the previous government ran a central free school programme application wave, which was open to all trusts to submit proposals for new free schools. All applications received were assessed against the published selection criteria in the How To Apply Guidance.
Local consultation is also undertaken prior to the opening of any new free school, enabling residents and other interested parties to provide their views on the proposal.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has assessed the potential impact of the proposed changes to business rates on small independent bookshops.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic.
To respond to those who are seeing large increases, Government has already acted to limit increases in bills, announcing a support package worth £4.3 billion package at the Budget.
The Government is also introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £1 billion per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
The Government published information on the effects of the changes to business rates made at Budget 2025 here: Effects of the business rates retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers and high-value multiplier - GOV.UK
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2026 to Question 99790 on Free Schools, how much funding her Department has provided to Swift Academy in each financial year since 2016-17.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department provides and retains responsibility for capital funding for the acquisition of sites/land and construction of free schools. A site has not yet been acquired for this project. When a site is secured, details and costs of the acquisition will be set out on the Land Registry website. We also publish details and costs for all free school construction contracts on Contracts Finder.
The department also provides revenue funding (via project development grants) directly to proposers to cover essential non-capital costs prior to each school opening. A one-off project development grant of £30,000 was paid to the trust in July 2017 following the approval of the project.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to outline funding arrangements for the Oak National Academy in 2026-2029.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is providing grant-in-aid of up to a maximum of £17.412 million for Oak National Academy (Oak) for financial year 2025/26. The level of funding for Oak for financial years 2026/27 to 2027/28, as with other programmes, will be confirmed through the department’s business planning process. Funding from 2028/29 onward will be subject to the 2027 Spending Review.