Union warns over 'failure and waste' of free schools policy
Neil Puffett
Monday, December 9, 2019
More than £300m of government money has been spent on failed free schools, university technical colleges (UTCs) and studio schools since 2010, it has emerged.
Analysis of government data by the National Education Union (NEU) found that £295m of public money was spent on schools that either closed completely or were transferred to new trusts, while £8m was spent on 65 approved schools that never even opened.
The list includes the Robert Owen Academy in Herefordshire, a free school that opened in 2013 at a total cost to taxpayers of £8.2m, but closed last year.
Meanwhile, the Bolton Wanderers Free School, which opened in 2013 at a total cost of £1.05m is also now closed.
The most costly closure was the STEM Academy in Islington, subsequently the Tech City College, which the government spent £14.1m on. It closed in July due to a lack of students.
The NEU analysis found that one in eight (76) of the 624 free schools, UTCs and studio schools that have opened since 2010 have been unsuccessful, either closing, announcing closure or being “rebrokered” to another academy trust. Of these, 45 closed completely or announced closure, while 31 have been rebrokered.
Of the £295m spent on closed or rebrokered schools, £240m went on the capital costs, such as site acquisition and construction costs, with £55m going in the form of one-off revenue grants such as "project development” and “post opening” grants.
The union said the real total is likely to be even higher as the government data does not yet include all the unsuccessful free schools, UTCs and studio schools.
Kevin Courtney, NEU joint general secretary, said the figures reveal a "shocking record of failure and waste that has been the hallmark of the free school programme".
"Conservative politicians should be ashamed of the fact that one in eight of these schools has not been successful and that this has incurred a staggering waste of taxpayers’ money to the tune of over £300m,” he said.
"The free school policy is one of the few specific education commitments made in the Conservative Party manifesto. Continuing to pursue this tainted and wasteful vanity project is bad enough, but to do so while refusing to give other schools the funds they desperately need is a disgrace."
In October, a think-tank report found that the free school programme is failing to cater for pupils in disadvantaged areas.
