ASCL Says Opening Free Schools May Be Waste Of Money

Opening free schools in England where they are not needed is a "shameful" waste of taxpayers' money, the leader of a head teachers' union has said. In a speech on Saturday, Brian Lightman of the Association of School and College Leaders, also said free schools might damage existing schools.

"Such experimentation is deeply and unequivocally immoral," he told heads. A government spokesman said free schools would give parents more choice of schooling for their children. Free schools are funded from the public education budget, like other state schools, on a per-pupil basis.

However, they are run independently from local authority control by not-for-profit trusts, which can buy in private sector services.
In a speech to the union's annual conference, Mr Lightman said: "ASCL has no objection to new schools opening in areas where there is a shortage of school places but we cannot condone the creation of costly surplus places when other services are being cut."

The union suggests that free schools planned for Suffolk, Essex, Bristol and Teesside are all in areas where there are already surplus places. It is also concerned that free schools may receive more generous funding than other schools and accuses the government of being opaque when it comes to free school budgets.

Mr Lightman called on the government to publish spending figures for the next three years for each new free school.

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