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| Free schools project put in peril by soaring costs – MPs | Free schools project put in peril by soaring costs – MPs |
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| The government has spent £240m on free schools in areas that don't need them and the programme risks blowing out its budget due to lax financial management and rising costs, MPs report today. | The government has spent £240m on free schools in areas that don't need them and the programme risks blowing out its budget due to lax financial management and rising costs, MPs report today. |
| In a damning evaluation the public accounts committee's report cites poor value for money in the planning and oversight of free schools, the state-funded institutions introduced by Michael Gove as education secretary since 2010. | |
| It has calculated that the government has spent at least £240m on building 42 schools in areas that had no shortage of school places, while receiving no applications to open primary free schools in half of the areas with a high forecast of need for extra school places. | It has calculated that the government has spent at least £240m on building 42 schools in areas that had no shortage of school places, while receiving no applications to open primary free schools in half of the areas with a high forecast of need for extra school places. |
| The committee says the Department for Education (DfE) "was unable to give us a consistent explanation" of how it approved or rejected applications to open new free schools, or how it calculated value for money of those it did open. | |
| "We are concerned that applications for new free schools are not emerging from areas of greatest forecast need for more and better school places," said Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP who chairs the committee. | |
| The committee said 87% of projected primary places in the free schools opened so far were in areas with high or severe demand for more places – but only 19% of secondary places in the free schools opened so far were in similar areas. | |
| "We are calling on the department to set out how, and by when, it will encourage applications from areas with a high or severe forecast need for extra school places, working with local authorities where appropriate," Hodge said. | |
| The DfE said many of the PAC's concerns were misplaced. "Free schools are subject to greater scrutiny than council-run schools, they are overwhelmingly located in areas with a shortage of places, and construction costs are 45% lower than the previous school building programmes," it said. | The DfE said many of the PAC's concerns were misplaced. "Free schools are subject to greater scrutiny than council-run schools, they are overwhelmingly located in areas with a shortage of places, and construction costs are 45% lower than the previous school building programmes," it said. |
| The cross-party committee highlighted the increasing expense of housing the new schools – as £700m out of the £1.1bn total spent on free schools went on temporary accommodation and new buildings – and said that cost overruns could imperil the entire project. | |
| Tristram Hunt, the shadow education secretary, said: "This report is evidence that David Cameron's free school programme is diverting precious resources away from areas in dire need of more school places, contributing to the primary places crisis this Tory-led government is overseeing. This cannot be right." | |
| Free schools and the DfE budget also suffered from being squeezed by property developers into paying higher prices. In evidence to the committee, the DfE "acknowledged that publicity surrounding free school applications can inflate the market value of the proposed site, particularly in London". | Free schools and the DfE budget also suffered from being squeezed by property developers into paying higher prices. In evidence to the committee, the DfE "acknowledged that publicity surrounding free school applications can inflate the market value of the proposed site, particularly in London". |
| Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, commented: "It is extraordinary that, as the report makes clear, the DfE has set no limit on how much it is willing to spend on free school premises." | Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, commented: "It is extraordinary that, as the report makes clear, the DfE has set no limit on how much it is willing to spend on free school premises." |
| Natalie Evans, director of New Schools Network that promotes the creation of free schools, said: "It is simply untrue to say that free schools are not being set up in areas of where new places are needed. This September, 90% of new free schools are opening in areas where there is a predicted shortage of places, and in London, this rises to 100%. | |
| "But free schools are not just about plugging a gap, they are about addressing the other crisis many parents face when looking for a school for their children: the crisis in good local school places. It is important to not lose sight of the value for money of these new places too – helping drive up standards across the country." |