Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department will make an assessment of the level of contingency capacity of (a) schools and (b) colleges in the event of other school settings being forced to close.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. The department engages with councils on a regular basis to review their plans for creating additional places and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, we support them to find solutions as quickly as possible.

As with schools, the duty is also with local authorities to have a strategic overview of the 16-19 provision available in the area and to identify and resolve gaps in provision so that each young person receives an offer of a suitable place.