Councils click into the future of planning
In town halls across the country, planning officers are racing to update their Local Plans — but this time, the process looks very different.
Government announces 16 new special free schools
09/05/2024 New schools for 2,000 children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are to open in 16 areas across England. |
Seven new special free schools announced
23/08/2023 Seven new special free schools are set to open amid a critical shortage of places for pupils with special educational needs, the Government has announced. |
Local authorities to bid for funding for 75 new free schools
10/06/2022 Up to 75 new free schools - including sixth forms, specialist schools and alternative provision - will be created across England. |
First 50 schools chosen for £1bn rebuilding programme
05/02/2021 The first 50 schools to receive £1bn funding under the Government's School Rebuilding Programme have been announced. |
Thousands of new school spaces for SEND children
20/07/2020 New special free schools will provide over 3,000 extra places for pupils with the most complex needs. |
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PM announces new wave of free school applications
10/09/2019 The Government has announced the latest round of applications for the controversial free schools programme in an effort to ‘drive up education standards’. |
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Braverman calls on Government to ‘double down’ on free schools
13/08/2019 Tory MP Suella Braverman has urged the Government to speed up the expansion of free schools which she argues act as ‘drivers of competition and innovation’. |
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Whitehall approves 22 new free schools
14/06/2019 Bids to create 22 new free schools have been approved, education secretary Damien Hinds has announced. |
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Whitehall opens two free schools for SEND children
11/01/2019 Children and families minister Nadhim Zahawi has announced the opening of two new free schools to help pupils with complex social, emotional and mental health needs. |
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Labour pledges to scrap new academies
25/09/2018 Councils would be given control of academies and have new powers to build more schools if Labour were elected, the party conference heard yesterday. |
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Free schools ‘failing’ to offer innovative approaches to education, study reveals
31/05/2018 Free schools are failing to offer new approaches to education and are not educating enough disadvantaged children, according to researchers. |
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Labour will invest £13bn to repair ‘deteriorating’ school estate
27/09/2017 Labour will provide local authorities with the £13bn needed to repair the school estate, shadow secretary of state for education tells conference. |
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Whitehall announces new free school places for SEN pupils
28/07/2017 A total of 19 local authorities have invited applications to sponsor new free schools for children with special needs. |
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Councils call for greater power to increase first-choice school places
14/06/2017 Local government leaders have renewed demands to be given more power over school admissions following the latest figures on parental choice. |
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Whitehall’s free schools policy ‘incoherent’ and ‘poor value for money’
26/04/2017 MPs have warned the Government its system for funding new free schools is ‘increasingly incoherent’ and ‘too often poor value for money’. |
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Councils call for control over where new grammar schools are built
13/04/2017 The Government is due to announce a new wave of grammar schools later today that could be forced to take a quota of pupils from poorer backgrounds. |
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Over 130 free schools announced in ‘biggest wave’ of Parliament
12/04/2017 The Government today announced the approval of the ‘biggest wave’ of free schools this Parliament. |
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New public property company to deliver 500 free schools
29/03/2017 The Government yesterday announced the creation of a new public property company which will purchase sites for 500 new free schools. |
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Budget 2017: Funding for new wave of free schools
08/03/2017 Chancellor Philip Hammond has today confirmed a £320m funding package to build 110 new free schools. |
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Councils call for oversight of academy finances after string of abuses
26/08/2016 Council chiefs are calling for local oversight of all school finances following a series of abuses by academies and free schools. |
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Church to open more schools to ‘influence’ education debate
11/07/2016 The Church of England plans to open over 100 schools in the next five years in order ‘enhance’ provision and ‘influence’ debate. |
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Nearly 2,500 academies not signed up to healthy school meal standards
22/03/2016 A loophole that enables nearly 2,500 academies and free schools avoid signing up to healthy school meal standards must be closed in a forthcoming child obesity strategy, town hall leaders say. |
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Bradford accused of being in ‘denial’ over illegal schools
04/03/2016 Ofsted has accused a council of being ‘naive’ when it comes to illegal schools which could be operating in its area, the Yorkshire Post reports. |
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Police commissioners should start free schools for troubled children, home secretary says
05/02/2016 Elected police and crime commissioners should be given new powers to set up free schools for troubled children, according to home secretary Theresa May. |
