Plans to scrap National Strategies supported by unions

The programme, which is run by private company Capita, was one of New Labour's key education policies, but is being abandoned because Children's Secretary Ed Balls wants to give schools more control over how they teach.

From 2011, primary schools will no longer be forced to hold a daily literacy and numeracy hour. Teachers will have more freedom to use innovative teaching methods and groups of schools will be encouraged to work together to share good practice.

The move will also save the government a significant amount of money.

This year alone Capita will be paid at least £64m for its work on National Strategies. Chris Keates, general secretary of teaching union NASUWT, said no tears would be shed over the demise of national strategies.

She said: "The NASUWT has never been a fan of National Strategies. The problem was never the concept of a national framework of support for teachers; it was the prescriptive dictat, which governed its implementation."

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said Balls' recognition that teachers' professional judgement can be trusted to deliver the curriculum is long overdue.

She said: "The large sums of money freed up by the ending of National Strategies can now be spent on other more worthwhile aspects of the education budget."

A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said that the white paper would give more power to schools because of the improvements that Labour has made to education.

She said: "The confidence that such a shift is viable is in many respects testament to the success of the National Strategies."