The Department of Education (DfE) has confirmed that around two-thirds of the projects planned under the free schools programme will be cut, with funds redirected primarily to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision in mainstream schools
After a year-long government review, the Department of Education has confirmed that a number of planned projects under the free schools programme face the axe.
Only 15 of the 92 planned special and alternative provision (AP) free schools will go ahead, with 28 mainstream schools and 18 special free school projects thown back to councils to make the final decision on whether or not to continue the projects.
Councils can choose to instead redirect allocated funds to create places in existing schools on a per-pupil basis. Another 58 specialist projects will also be reviewed by local councils. The DfE also confirmed that 18 special schools will be scrapped outright.
The decisions are believed to save the government a total of £600m, with the DfE saying that its decision would help “prioritise investment in specialist places”.
The move was welcomed by councils, but has recieved significant criticism from the education sector.
Like “the nightmare before Christmas” for special education
CEO of Nexus Multi-Academy Trust(which runs 19 special schools) Warran Carratt, said the decision allowed councils the opportunity to “cut and run with the money earmarked for these schools”, going on to say the decision was “the nightmare before Christmas” for the specialist sector.
New Schools Network director Meg Powell-Chandler said the organisation “regret[s] the decision to cancel a number of projects, and remain concerned that uncertainty persists for 77 vital special and AP free school proposals that would provide much-needed, high-quality specialist places.”
Two-thirds of special schools are over capacity, according to the DfE’s own data
The DfE has argued that the decision to cut the free schools programme in favour of expanding provision in existing schools would help accommodate children “often more quickly”, as it can take several years for new schools to open.
But many of the projects now facing the axe were in “safety valve” areas – where councils have signed multimillion pound bailout deals for significant SEND reforms. The DfE said that it would deliver 10,000 school places in “all areas” that were to benefit from the previously planned free schools. This is in addition to a £3bn cash injection over four years to support councils making new specialist places in special or mainstream schools, as well as £740m already committed earlier this year.
Carratt questioned the government’s focus on placing SEND pupils in mainstream schools “when special schools up and down the country are at breaking point.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “This additional investment should mean that, in time, more children and young people receive the provision and education that they need and deserve.
But he also said that investment in buildings was only “part of the picture”, adding government must ensure there are “sufficient teachers and leaders with the right level of specialist training.”
More information is expected to be released in a White Paper in the new year.
