Tweet
Conservative plans to allow parents and charities to set up their own schools have been called into question by two senior Tory council figures.Paul Carter, leader of Kent County Council, said funding parents to start their own "free schools" would threaten the budgets of other local schools.
David Kirk - responsible for schools in Hampshire - said local authorities were better placed to improve schools.
He said councils could provide "intelligent, sensible interventions".
The Tories' flagship free schools policy would give state funds to parents or other groups to set up their own schools.
'Destructive'
Mr Carter said the policy could mean local authority schools getting less money and education services suffering.
He said he was not against choice in education, but warned his party must guard against what he called "destructive" rather than "constructive" competition.
Mr Carter runs an authority with almost 600 schools, including grammars, academies and comprehensives.
But he believes the funding proposals on free schools would give him less to spend on existing schools and could have a detrimental effect on what services he could provide.
"At the moment the more academies and free schools you operate, under the current academy funding arrangements, the less maintained schools would get," he said.
"Secondary schools are around £4,000 plus per pupil. If 10%, 12%, 15% of that would be taken away from maintained schools and given to free schools and academies - local authorities still have statutory functions to perform.
"They have to arrange and organise school admissions, statements for special educational needs pupils - a whole range or services that need paying for. That can't be taken away from us and given to free schools or academies because they don't have the statutory duty to carry out these responsibilities."
'Raising standards'
Mr Kirk, cabinet member for children's services in Hampshire's Conservative council, said he also wanted choice for parents.
But he believes local councils must have the chance to turn schools around rather than giving parents or charities the immediate right to set up a new school.
"The way we turn failing schools around is intelligent, sensible intervention by local authorities - to work with and assist the school to become successful," he said.
"There still needs to be an opportunity for local authorities under any scheme of management to be able to intervene effectively in school standards because I do think a good local education authority has a major role to play in the raising of standards in its area."
The councillor who runs education services in another Conservative authority in one of England's cities, but who does not want to be named, says he "is not a fan of the free schools policy".
He points out if parents were able to set up free schools in his area - a city with a growing population - it would make strategic planning a nightmare for him.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.