Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of good school places in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Delivering good quality school places is a top priority. The Government has committed £7 billion between 2015 and 2021 to deliver new school places, which is on top of investment in the free schools programme. The Government is on track to create 1 million places this decade (2010 to 2020), the largest increase in school capacity in at least two generations.

Yorkshire and the Humber has been allocated £855 million to create new places between 2011 and 2021. There are now 61,527 more school places in Yorkshire and the Humber than in 2010. As at December 2018, there are over 170,000 more pupils in good or outstanding schools in Yorkshire and the Humber than in 2010.

As at 24 April, there are 30 open free schools and six University Technical Colleges (UTCs) in Yorkshire and the Humber and a further 13 free schools and one UTC have been approved. In addition, the Department will run competitions to find strong providers to open and run five additional special schools in Yorkshire and the Humber. This includes five additional special schools in Yorkshire and the Humber.