Half a million spent on free schools in Yorkshire which never opened or closed after a year

THE GOVERNMENT has spent almost three quarters of a million pounds on free schools which never opened in 2015, new figures have revealed.
..
.

This includes almost £80,000 spent on a primary school, in Barnsley, which did not go ahead as planned because there was no longer deemed to be a shortage of places in the town.

The latest figures mean that since the free school programme was launched, in 2011, just over half-a-million has been spent on preparing free schools in the Yorkshire and Humber which never opened or were closed.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Department for Education (DfE) has published new tables showing the amount it has spent on free schools opening in the 2015/16 academic year.

The figures include revenue funding spent before a school opens and afterwards.

They show there were five free school projects across the country which received just over £700,000 in total which were then withdrawn after being given initial Government approval.

Free schools were a flagship reform of the Conservative-led coalition government which encouraged the creation of new state schools where providers could prove they had the demand.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Elements Primary, in Barnsley, was one of the projects which received funding after getting to the pre-opening stage.

The DfE’s latest statistics show it received £79,900.57 before the project was withdrawn.

The school was going to be sponsored by the Wellspring Academy Trust opening in 2015 and moving to a permanent site on Honeywell Campus this year.

The DfE said that because Barnsley Council had expanded its existing provision, this eliminated the basic need for places in the town and it was agreed that Wellspring could withdraw their application for Elements Primary.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Other free schools which had been due to open in Yorkshire, and which received public funding in previous years, include the Three Valleys Independent Academy in South Yorkshire, the Northern Lights Primary, in Halifax and the Free School Leeds, a primary which was linked to the Free School Norwich - one of the first flagship free schools to open in the country in 2011.

The Dawes Lane Academy,in Scunthorpe, also received pre-opening funding but closed after a year. The alternative provision free school had been opened by major Yorkshire academy chain the School Partnership Trust Academies but closed because of issues finding a permanent site.

A DfE spokeswoman said: “Free schools are a vital part of our plan for education and are providing thousands of pupils with an excellent education, including many of those who have fallen out of the mainstream school system.

“All proposed free schools are required to meet strict conditions before opening, and where it becomes clear that a school will not meet these, any grant payments are stopped immediately and unspent money is returned to the department.”

MONEY SPENT ON FREE SCHOOLS WHICH NEVER OPENED OR CLOSED

2011: Three Valleys Independent Academy. £24,950

2013: Northern Lights Primary, Halifax £196,532

2013: Free School Leeds £83,723.15

2014: Dawes Lane Academy, NE Lincs (closed) £119,657

2015: Elements Primary, Barnsley £79,900.57