Free School Applications

13. What her planned timetable is for decision on existing free school applications.

As was mentioned earlier, the Government took the sensible, pragmatic decision to pause a number of free school applications in order to consider real concerns about value for money and to make sure new places are created in parts of the country that need them.

Parents and pupils deserve a school system that builds on success, not one that holds it back. The coalition Government opened 24 free schools in 500 days, yet this Government have spent over 400 days reviewing 44 already-approved schools. Free schools outperform non-selective state schools at every key stage, so why are this Government blocking more children from accessing a good education?

There is a very simple answer to that question: the last Government left us with crumbling school buildings and a limited capital budget to allocate across the entire school estate. We have to balance rebuilding crumbling school buildings—which, as the National Audit Office and others have highlighted, were in a deteriorated state—with the need to prioritise extra school places in parts of the country that need them. That is what the country expects from us.

I call the shadow Minister.

The special needs budget mess is not the only uncertainty caused by this Government. The special needs White Paper is overdue, and 44 approved mainstream free schools and a number of approved special needs schools are in limbo. Schools, trusts or councils that want to open new special needs schools do not know the policy, the budget, or whether they will be allowed to open at all, so by what date will we get the White Paper? When will we get an answer to the budget mess, and when will we be told whether those free schools can go ahead? The Minister has just said “very soon”, but we had been promised an answer before Christmas. Will he get on with it?

The reason this Government need to create a policy and a budget for this system is that it was left in a complete mess—not that many months ago, the former Education Secretary described it as a “lose, lose, lose” situation. Getting the special educational needs system right and fixing it will take time, but we have already put £740 million of capital into the system. As the hon. Member highlighted, there is a list of special school projects; we are looking through those projects now, and will make a decision very soon.