Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-07-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which free school projects pre-approved to open in September 2014 have since been (a) cancelled or withdrawn and (b) delayed; and what the pre-opening expenditure was for each such project.

Mr Edward Timpson

Since 2011, 174 new free schools have opened across the country and around a further 80 are on course to open in September 2014. While free school proposers will have a preferred date for opening their school, the Department for Education does not approve projects to open in any specific year.

The projects aiming to open in September 2014 or beyond that have been withdrawn are:

1. Inspirar Academy

2. Marco Polo Academy

3. Oasis Community School Walthamstow

4. On Track Chiltern

5. Phoenix Free School of Oldham

6. The Advance School

7. Transforming Lives for Good

No project was specifically approved to open in September 2014.

Once the costs are finalised, the Department publishes the pre-opening expenditure for each free school project on the Departmental website.