To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will assess the effects of school admissions policies based on residential location on social diversity among school pupils. (283094)

The Department published a bulletin in 2008 on “The Composition of Schools in England” which included data at local authority level to enable a comparison to be made between the socio-economic composition of a local authority area and the schools in the same area.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many school places there are in (a) Castle Point, (b) Thurrock, (c) Southend and (d) Essex. (284953)

[holding answer 7 July 2009]: The Department collects information annually from each local authority on the capacity of all maintained mainstream schools, as part of the Surplus Places Survey. The most recent data available relate to the position at January 2008. The following table shows the overall capacity of schools within the constituency of Castle Point and the authorities of Thurrock, Southend and Essex.