The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Mr Sam Gyimah)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Mike Freer) on securing this debate. He raises a very important issue surrounding the ability of good free schools to expand the educational provision they offer. I assure him that this Government fully support good free schools expanding, but we must make sure that such decisions are based on a rigorous and evidence-based process to ensure that the school will remain educationally and financially viable.
The Government have a manifesto commitment to create at least 500 free schools by 2020, creating 270,000 school places. We have revised the application process for new schools to encourage more applications from good and outstanding schools, and high-performing trusts and sponsors. We are encouraging businesses, charities, cultural and sporting bodies, community groups and parents to enter the free schools programme. As announced in the spending review, the Government are investing a further £23 billion in school buildings up to 2021. This comes after we changed the rules to make it easier for good schools to expand.
We are opening free schools quicker, and at a lower cost, than in previous school-building programmes. We have opened over 350 free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools since 2010, creating over 190,000 school places. We have opened 69 free schools since the 2015 general election, and have over 150 free schools aiming to open in 2016 and beyond, creating 100,000 places. I am pleased to say that almost half of free schools have been opened in the most deprived communities in our country. The vast majority of those approved in recent years have been in areas where there was a recognised need for additional school places.
As my hon. Friend is aware, the Government want every parent to have access to a good school place for their child. This means that all new places need to be of good quality. The Department therefore expects that proposals for new sixth forms should usually be put forward only by good or outstanding schools. The current guidance from the Department sets out the process that existing academies have to follow in order to add a sixth form. This starts with a local consultation process to ensure that all those affected are able to comment. A business case on the proposal is then made to the Department. The relevant regional schools commissioner will consider the case and make a decision on behalf of the Secretary of State. As part of this business case, the academy will need to show that it has funding in place for the expansion.
As my hon. Friend said, free schools, like academies and sixth-form colleges, are eligible to apply to the Department for the condition improvement fund for additional capital funding to support expansion. The core priority of the fund is to keep academy, free school and college buildings safe and in good working order by tackling poor building condition, building compliance, energy efficiency and health and safety issues. A smaller proportion of the fund is available to support the expansion of good or outstanding free schools, academies and sixth-form colleges. That includes cases of overcrowding as well as sixth-form expansions.
The 2015-16 allocations for the condition improvement fund provided funding for 1,482 projects across 1,170 academies and sixth-form colleges at a total of £421 million. All applications were considered against rigorous criteria and prioritised to ensure that projects with the greatest need were successful.
Once a new sixth form has been agreed, day-to-day funding for pupils is based on the national 16-to-19 funding formula. All institutions providing education for 16 to 19-year-olds are funded on the same basis, whether they are academies, free schools, maintained schools or sixth-form colleges.
We announced as part of the spending review that we will protect the national base rate of £4,000 per student for the duration of the Parliament. I am sure that my hon. Friend will welcome the stability that that will bring to the sector and the vote of confidence it represents in 16-to-19 education. Within that formula, funding for existing sixth forms is based on lagged student numbers—that is to say, the funding in one year reflects the number of students recruited in the previous year. That would clearly not work for new sixth forms, so in those cases funding in the first year is often based on a third of the capacity of the sixth form. However, in some cases, particularly some free schools, funding is based on the school’s estimated numbers.
I understand my hon. Friend’s frustration at the challenges faced by Archer Academy in securing funding to add a sixth form. Archer Academy is subject to the same robust processes as all other academies and free schools that wish to expand. The Government do not perceive that process to be holding back good free schools from expanding; rather, it ensures that there is a need for high-quality places within the local area, and ascertains whether the school would remain both financially and educationally viable if it did expand.
My hon. Friend raised two particular questions towards the end of his speech. First, I assure him that the condition improvement fund is under review, as occurs annually, and the proportion of the fund available for expansion is also being reviewed. The Government have consistently supported good schools expanding, as I have demonstrated, but the process needs to be rigorous and evidence-based and we will consider applications on a case-by-case basis.
Secondly, I and my departmental colleagues and officials regularly meet headteachers and governors, and take great pride in doing so. I would very much like to meet my hon. Friend, headteachers and governors to discuss the specific issues in his constituency and those relating to Archer Academy.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this important issue. I hope he is happy with the confirmation that the Government fully support the expansion of successful free schools such as Archer Academy, which I look forward to seeing go from strength to strength.
Question put and agreed to.