Nick Gibb MP
Minister of State
Department for Education
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT

23rd August 2011

Dear Nick,
I am writing regarding a serious shortage of school places for pupils throughout Brighton and Hove, and am keen to discuss ways in which the Government could help to alleviate this pressing problem.
Of particular concern is the fact that some publicly funded schools can refuse to take in local children because they aren't of a particular faith, forcing residents to travel further afield to attend primary school. In Brighton and Hove there are 16 of these publicly funded schools, none of which currently have any obligation to take local non-faith families. Local Green Cllr Ruth Buckley recently met with Hove MP Mike Weatherly to ask him to lobby for a proportion of admissions to ‘voluntary-aided' faith schools to be made available for non-faith families. This is a move I would strongly support too.
In addition, as I understand it the current system means that the Government is under no obligation to inform the City Council in advance of new free schools opening, making good planning around school places unnecessarily problematic. In this instance, If there were a transparent dialogue between groups planning free schools and local authorities, councils such as Brighton and Hove would be better able to take into account potential free schools provision, ensuring that they don't negatively impact on overall provision, and thus significantly easing the pressures currently faced in this respect.
I urge you to consider these suggestions and look forward to hearing your response.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas, MP, Brighton Pavilion