If the free school movement does get going in September then it means quite an opportunity for companies that supply the basics a school needs – from desks to carpets, from interactive white boards to books and software.
If the free school movement does not get going in September then the whole operation might stop, and (with a spot of luck) that money that the government has set aside for free schools could go back to existing schools.
Currently we are seeing the first signs that things are not running smoothly, and the occasional suggestion that the plan for the movement were not properly thought through.
Two issues have arisen. The first concerns guarantees should any court cases arise from companies that bid to run a free school on behalf of a successful applicant. The schools are looking for guarantees of help from the DfE in such a case, but the Department has said definitively “no”.
Since free school bids tend to come from volunteer groups, the thought of taking on a major player in the world of education provision who alleges that the bidding process was not fair and open, is daunting to say the least. Court fees would run into tens or hundreds of thousands.
Worse the DfE has now said it won’t put up any money to guarantee a lease on a school building. Since a free school will be new it will start with no credit history, no trading history, and no ability to predict pupil numbers. That means members of the project will be asked personally to guarantee the lease on the building. Which is probably not what the school founders had in mind.
Tony Attwood
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