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Schools: Radicalism

Volume 508: debated on Wednesday 7 April 2010

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether any school has (a) had public funding withdrawn and (b) been closed consequent on identification of links between that school and extremism in the last 10 years. (325125)

Maintained schools are funded by their local authority and decisions about funding for pupils of compulsory school age and for early years provision are a matter for local authorities. Some independent schools are funded by local authorities for the delivery of early years’ provision. Maintained school closures are a matter for the relevant local authority and independent school proprietors make their own operational decisions. The Department does not routinely collect information about the withdrawal of funding by local authorities from their schools or early years providers and we have no record of instances where public funding has been withdrawn as a result of links between a school and extremism. Every year a number of maintained and independent schools close but the Department does not collect the reasons for closure.