New inquiry into availability of school places in England

Witness

At 9.30am, room to be confirmed

Rt Hon David Laws MP, Minister of State for Schools, Department for Education

Purpose of the session

The Committee will discuss with the Minister issues relating to the current and future availability of school places in England, including regional differences; the factors affecting the number of places available and the ability of the Government, local authorities and others to respond to the increased demand for places; and current and future solutions to address shortages.

Written submissions

Brief written comments are invited on these issues in advance of the session.  In view of the short timescale of this inquiry, submissions should be made by midday on Monday 7 October 2013.

• Inquiry: School places
• Guidance on submitting written evidence

Please note
As part of a scheme to encourage paperless working and maximise efficiency, the Committee is piloting a new web portal for online submissions of written evidence. Written submissions for this inquiry should therefore be sent via the Education Committtee's inquiry page on School places.

The deadline is midday on Monday 7 October 2013. Due to the short deadline submissions should be no longer than two sides of A4.
Submissions should be in the format of a self-contained memorandum. Paragraphs should be numbered for ease of reference, and the document should, if possible, include an executive summary.

Submissions should be original work, not previously published or circulated elsewhere. Once submitted, your submission becomes the property of the Committee and no public use should be made of it unless you have first obtained permission from the Clerk of the Committee. Please bear in mind that Committees are not able to investigate individual cases.

The Committee normally, though not always, chooses to publish the written evidence it receives, either by printing the evidence, publishing it on the internet or by making it publicly available through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure; the Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.

For data protection purposes, it would be helpful if individuals wishing to submit written evidence send their contact details in a covering letter. You should be aware that there may be circumstances in which the House of Commons will be required to communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Further information

• About Parliament: Select Committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch Committees