| answer text |
<p>The Department expects that the free schools route will be the main route for establishing
new schools in England. Where local authorities identify the need for a new school,
section 6A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 requires them to seek proposals
to establish a free school.</p><p>However, it remains possible for proposers to publish
proposals for a new local authority maintained school at any time in a limited set
of circumstances.</p><p>The table attached sets out the number of new provision local
authority maintained schools established compared to the number of free schools, since
the 2015/16 academic year[1].</p><p>There is one foundation school proposed to open
in 2019/20 and 284 pipeline free schools.</p><p>On 29 May 2019, the Department announced
the outcome of the first round of the Voluntary Aided Capital Scheme, which gave in-principle
agreement for the Department to fund the establishment of a new voluntary aided school.
The Department also placed two further bids on hold whilst we work with the proposers
to identify a suitable site for their proposed school. The successful proposer will
now need to follow the statutory process for establishing a new maintained school.
The local authority will be responsible for making the final decision as to whether
to approve the school.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>[1] This data is taken from Get Information
about Schools (GIAS). Responsibility for updating GIAS is shared between the Department,
local authorities and schools and is continuously updated. Therefore, we cannot guarantee
the accuracy of the data. This data includes schools whose reason for opening is listed
as ‘new provision’ on GIAS. The Ofsted definition of a mainstream maintained state
school does not include nursery provision, special schools or alternative provision.</p>
|
|
