Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the proposals relating to independent schools in the Schools that Work for Everyone consultation document will be taken forward.

As part of the Government's commitment to create more good school places, last September we published the consultation document: Schools that work for everyone. This asked how we could harness the resources and expertise of those in our independent schools to work in partnership to lift attainment across the wider school system.

The Government has welcomed the way that our independent schools have actively considered and proposed what more they could do to raise attainment in state schools, in recognition of their responsibility to their own local communities. Over this Parliament, we intend to build on the positive and constructive conversations we have had with the sector to agree how they could do more to improve attainment for children from all backgrounds, and increase the number of good school places.

Officials will continue to work with the Independent Schools Council to agree how best to take forward the proposals for more independent schools to support state schools.