Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) educational spaces for children and (b) youth centres have closed in North Warwickshire and Bedworth constituency since 2010.

Information on mainstream primary and secondary school places is published annually in the School Capacity publication, which is accessible here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity. Time series data are not published at constituency level, which is difficult to track over time due to changing boundaries and school-reorganisations. School capacity data is published at school level and can be combined with information from ‘Get information about schools’ to identify the number of places based on the current parliamentary constituency.

The latest data at local authority level shows that between 2009/10 and 2022/23, the number of school places in Warwickshire increased by 14,143. This data is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/33b1bea3-efe4-4b37-f914-08dd0adc50ad. This represents an increase of 7,634 primary and 6,509 secondary places.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) do not collect individualised data on youth centre closure. As set out in section 507B of the Education Act 1996, local authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people in their area.

In September 2023, DCMS published updated statutory guidance to support local authorities’ understanding of the existing duty and how to deliver it. The statutory duty, and therefore local authorities’ responsibilities, have not changed.

Alongside this, DCMS funds a peer review programme for local authorities to learn from each other about the best approaches to youth service provision.

In 2025/26, the department will also be launching the Local Youth Transformation pilot, which will support local authorities to build back capacity in the youth space and improve local youth offers.