Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any consented free school applications were withdrawn between February 2014 and April 2016 by the (a) proposers in the community or (b) proposed provider; and what the cost of such applications has been to the public purse.

Ten projects were withdrawn from the pre-opening phase by their proposers between February 2014 and April 2016.

The total pre- and post-opening revenue expenditure for free school projects that opened or were withdrawn or cancelled in 2011 to 2013 is published on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/revenue-expenditure-for-free-schools

We plan to publish updated revenue expenditure for free schools that were open or withdrawn in 2014 and 2015 in the coming weeks. This data will be updated annually each autumn.

The capital costs of all free school projects, including any costs incurred on projects that have withdrawn, are included in the Department for Education’s annual accounts. The next set of accounts is due to be published shortly at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-annual-reports