Evidence session on funding for new school places in Barking
25 March 2013
The Committee of Public Accounts holds a public evidence session in connection with their inquiry into funding for new school places on Monday 25 March at 3.30 pm at Barking Town Hall
Witness
At 3.30 pm
- Chris Wormald, Permanent Secretary, Department for Education
Purpose
The session will be based on the National Audit Office report Capital Funding for New School Places, published on 15th March 2013, as HC 1042.
The report states that 256,000 new school places are still needed by 2014/15 to meet increased demand. Although the Department for Education has increased funding provided to local authorities and a net increase of almost 81,500 primary school places has been seen in the last two years, indications of real strain on school places are present.
Chair of the Committee
The Chair of the Public Accounts Committee and Member of Parliament for Barking, Margaret Hodge, said:
“We all want to see that every child gets the best possible education in the best possible environment. But in some parts of this country our schools are close to breaking point.
“In Barking we have one of the fastest growing populations in the country and our schools simply cannot cope. We need hundreds of new school places every year and it is one of the biggest concerns raised with me by local parents. That is why I wanted to bring the Committee here.
“Parliament and its committees should not always be confined to Westminster. The PAC is charged with looking at how public money is spent, and we want to do more of this stepping outside the Westminster bubble to assess the difference that public money is making on the ground.”