(2) how many staff are employed in the Office of the Schools Adjudicator;
(3) how many objections to school closures have been referred to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator in each year since the Office was established; and how many of these were upheld;
(4) how many objections to school closures are before the Office of the Schools Adjudicator.
The Office of the Schools Adjudicator’s Annual report is expected from the Chief Schools Adjudicator on 2 November 2009. This will be a comprehensive report which will answer many of the questions asked which relate to this year.
The operational cost of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator is set out in the following table.
Financial year Operational cost (£) 1999/2000 849,000 2000/01 797,000 2001/02 569,000 2002/03 432,000 2003/04 637,000 2004/05 689,00 2005/06 517,000 2006/07 605,000 2007/08 655,000 2008/09 756,000
This financial year (2009/10), the operational costs of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator has so far amounted to £295,000.
There are currently nine Adjudicators (including the Chief Schools Adjudicator), and seven full-time equivalent administrative staff working within the Office of the Schools Adjudicator.
Data on objections made to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator against a school closure is only available from 2008/09. In that year, four objections were referred to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator, none were upheld. No referrals have been made in the current year.
There are no objections to school closures currently before the Office of the Schools Adjudicator.
The Office of the Schools Adjudicator is currently dealing with three statutory proposal cases involving the closing of schools.
The Chief Schools Adjudicator met the Secretary of State on his appointment to the post at the start of this year. Since then, the Chief Adjudicator has met with the Minister responsible for School Admissions on a bi-monthly basis.
The Chief Schools Adjudicator provides an Annual Report to the Secretary of State.