Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to prevent smaller schools from closing in (a) England and (b) Kent.

Most small schools are rural and the Government recognises the importance of these schools to their communities. That is why there is a presumption against the closure of rural primary schools. While the presumption does not mean that rural primary schools will never close, it does require decision makers to consider factors such as the likely effect of the closure of the school on the local community, educational standards at the school, the impact on standards at neighbouring schools, the availability of transport to other schools, and any alternatives to the closure of the school.

We recognise that some schools are necessarily small because they are remote and do not have the same opportunities to grow or make efficiency savings as other schools. These schools can be especially important to their local communities, and ensure children do not have to travel long distances to school. That is why we have included dedicated sparsity funding in our new national funding formula (NFF), which will target funding to 19 of the most remote schools in Kent. Under the NFF, Kent would see an increase of 7.4% for its schools compared to 3.5% nationally.