Government wasting money on free schools, say MPs

MPs have criticised the government for wasting money on pursuing its "incoherent" free schools policy while neglecting existing schools.

A report from the cross-party public accounts committee said free schools were being built where they were not needed and accused landowners of overcharging for the sites used.

It also said existing schools were falling into disrepair.

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The report concludes: "The system for funding new schools and new places in existing schools is increasingly incoherent and too often poor value for money.

"The Department for Education is spending well over the odds in its bid to create 500 more free schools while other schools are in poor condition.

"Many free schools are in inadequate premises, including many without on-site playgrounds or sports facilities.

"In the context of severe financial constraints it is vital that the department uses its funding in a more coherent and cost-effective way."

It is a "damning" report, says The Times, which reports the policy has become a "fixation" while schools are "crumbling". Particularly damning is the fact the committee is dominated by Conservative MPs, The Guardian says.

Ministers say free schools, which are state-funded but independently run, are key to meeting demand for school places, reports the BBC, and the government has pledged to open 500 more by 2020.

However, the MPs questioned whether the department had a "grip" on school places and said that some areas have 20 per cent more spaces than are needed while elsewhere there is a severe shortfall.

According to the Times, half of the new places in free schools would not be physically needed, but an additional 420,000 school places will be needed elsewhere by 2021, mainly in secondary schools.

Meanwhile, the existing school estate is falling apart. In one incident highlighted by the committee, children had to be hosed down in a van after they were potentially exposed to asbestos when the roof of one school blew off.