Department for Education issues details of how groups can apply to set up free schools

Those interested in running the schools – which, along with academy expansion, is one of the coalition government's flagship education policies – are being asked to submit a set of proposals to the Department for Education (DfE).

Proposals must include the aims and objectives of the school, a list of the main people involved and evidence that local parents want a free school in their area, such as a petition. Proposers also need to have scoped out possible premises.

Education Secretary Michael Gove says planning laws could be relaxed to make it easier for those wanting to run free schools to secure sites. Funding for free schools will also be a "top priority" for the DfE in the forthcoming spending review, he added.

However, teaching unions and charities have expressed concern about the free schools policy. Among the most scathing is the National Union of Teachers (NUT), which said the creation of free schools would create "chaos at a local level".

Christine Blower, NUT general secretary, said: "Groups setting up their own schools, irrespective of local planning needs, would be a retrograde step that will lead to planning gridlock and social division.

"The free schools project would be a fundamental waste of money at a time of proposed serious cuts when schools will need every penny they can get."

Gove also announced that the education charity New Schools Network has been handed £500,000 to advise and support those wanting to run free schools.

Jolanta Lasota, chief executive of TreeHouse, which runs a special needs school in London, says the government needs to ensure that this advice is robust and that potential free school managers are well supported.

She said: "The government's vision of making it easier for parents to set up their own schools needs to be matched by investment in guidance and support, and a resolute commitment to supporting the role of special schools and for high standards of education."

Gove added that he hoped free schools "give all children access to the kind of education only the rich can afford — small schools with small class sizes, great teaching and strong discipline".