Free school ‘poses a threat to academies’

Councillor Amanda Chadderton

UP to two of Oldham’s new multi-million pound academies could be under threat if a controversial free school opens, says Oldham Council.

It has raised the concerns with the Department for Education (DfE) in formal consultation on proposals for Phoenix Free School.

The school, staffed entirely by former military personnel, would be funded by taxpayers but free from local authority control.

It has been given the go-ahead by the Government to open next September and wants a site in Oldham.

But the council says that the borough already has 1,108 too many secondary school places.

Unviable
The majority of these are in its three new academies which are run by sponsors: Oldham Academy North, Oasis Academy Oldham and Waterhed Academy.

Oldham Council argues that Collective Spirit free school, which opened in Chadderton in September, and a university technical college (UTC) for students aged 14-19, which opens at Oldham College next September, will also contribute to the problem.

In its response to the DfE, the council says that the addition of Phoenix and another 780 places could make “one, possibly two, of the sponsored academies unviable” and leave new buildings under-used. It also fears that it could undermine its investments in new schools — £187 million in the past six years alone. These came with significant financial commitments by the public purse to service Private Finance Initiative charges plus the costs of maintaining and running the facilities.

Councillor Amanda Chadderton, cabinet member for education, said: “The huge investments made in Oldham’s schools in recent years were all agreed on the basis of what the provision across the borough would be and the likely demand for it.

“We do not see what the case is for adding another 780 extra places on top of that now. Do we really want to see new first-class facilities going under-used? There’s no value for money in that — least of all to the taxpayer.

“Education in Oldham is good and making great progress at present but that doesn’t mean we can take risks with young people’s futures.

“Oldham Council works well with partners and we have embraced academies into the education family, most recently in plans to set up a Co-operative Learning Partnership designed to work together, keep standards high and address shared problems.

“We’re concerned the addition of the Phoenix School to this delicate mix would produce major problems which far outweigh its unproven potential benefit.

“The largest number of surplus secondary places is in Year 7 which means it will remain a significant surplus for five years. The recent additions of the Collective Spirit School and a UTC will contribute to this problem.”