Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2024 to Question 4283 on Schools: Admissions, what steps her Department is taking to issue guidance to Local Planning Authorities on appropriate levels of section 106 contributions from developers to meet future demand for school places.

In August 2023, the department published two non-statutory guidance documents for local authorities planning for education, local planning authorities (LPAs) and other stakeholders involved in the delivery of schools.

The guidance on 'Estimating pupil yield from housing development’ sets out the department’s recommended approach to calculating pupil yield from housing development to inform local plans and planning decisions and to help local authorities and LPAs justify developer contributions towards education. This guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64d0f71be5491a00134b5940/Estimating_Pupil_Yield_from_Housing_Development.pdf.

The guidance on ‘Securing developer contributions for education’ promotes good practice on evidencing the impacts of development, engaging with LPAs and delivering expanded or new facilities with funding from housing development. This document can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64d0f70d7a5708001314485f/Securing_Developer_Contributions_for_Education.pdf.