It is technically possibly to set up a new school under the auspices of the LA, but these tend to be ones that have been planned historically. For example, in the South Cambridgeshire fringe area we have just opened a new primary school and another one is in the pipeline, linked in to a very large housing development. But as I say, these were already planned, and closely linked to existing Local Authority schools.
I think nobody will be surprised that a Free School has failed - it would be odd if one of them hadn't, as independent schools fail all the time in what can be an aggressive market. But one thing is crystal clear from all this, and that is that Local Authorities need to retain at least enough residual power and financial clout to be able to help any children left without places when another school closes, or if there is a school fire, for example. (Many free schools seem to be on sites where there wouldn't be sufficient room for portacabins as replacement temporary classrooms, in such a circumstance). At the moment we are in a position where local authorities have a legal responsibility to find or make school places for all the children in the local area, and little means with which that can be properly planned or achieved. This is where the policy has failed most badly.
Another confusion in policy terms is defining what type of person can act as a teacher if they have no teaching qualifications. The independent sector is often cited here as an example of how people without teaching qualifications can be perfectly good teachers. I think this is a poor example. In the independent sector, the intake is a lot more homogeneous, and classes smaller, which makes it easier to teach than a diverse class with greater numbers of pupils. There is also what we call adverse selection, in that many kids with serious SEN, or kids who are difficult to teach, are frequently screened out during the admissions process by dissuading the parents from applying, applying an entrance test, or by the fees/uniforms/extras bills being too expensive, once again making the classroom teacher's job easier. Finally the independent sector does actually provide its own teacher training for new entrants, and lots of professional development, via the Independent Schools Council (I believe) plus there is usually a critical mass of experienced teachers with PGCEs or BEds to provide direction and focus, or mentoring. So people are not going into it completely blind. They have often volunteered in a school for a year or two, or worked as an assistant, before actually teaching. So whilst they may not have qualified teacher status, they aren't exactly ingenues, unlike those people who seem to have been employed in Derby.
Ultimately we need to be a lot clearer about what constitutes basic standards, and get Ofsted in a lot quicker and more frequently to inspect new schools of all types, when the danger is at its greatest.
However I am left with a distrust of Free Schools and chain Academies in their current form, due to a lack of clarity about my children's rights in various situations, and consequently I am putting my own children into Local Authority schools, or standalone academies, as I feel the product on offer is more reliable.
