Baroness Barran (Con)

My Lords, I shall make the case that Clause 58 should not stand part of the Bill, as set out in my Amendment 203. I am bringing this back because, in Committee, the Minister gave what I think is the most cursory response that I received over the course of the Bill. She said: “The current system allows local authorities to propose new schools only as a last resort or in very limited circumstances. Local authorities hold the statutory responsibility to secure sufficient school places in their area, and it is right that we give them greater ability to fulfil that duty effectively. These changes will enable consideration of any local offer that meets the needs of children and families”.—[Official Report, 16/9/25; col. 2114.] I then wrote to the Minister to ask how often local authorities had been unable to meet these duties effectively. The reply stated: “The department does not collect data on how many times local authorities run a process to open a new school, but as you know, some regions have many more academy trusts operating in them than others, and, under the high-quality trust framework, some trusts are considered much stronger than others in terms of governance, finances and educational expertise”. So, once again, the Government have no firm evidence that there is a problem that needs solving.