Petition to Suffolk County Council on Free Schools

I have submitted a petition to Suffolk County Council on Free Schools calling on them to end the "presumption" of support for Free Schools.

SUFFOLK FREE SCHOOLS PETITION

We the undersigned call upon Suffolk County Council to amend its policy on Free Schools to end the “presumption” of support for free schools and to support new free schools only on the basis of need. We call upon the Leader of the Council to make representations to the Secretary of State for Education to ensure that need and impact on existing schools are considered for all free school applications in Suffolk. 

Please sign the petition online here if you live, work or study in Suffolk
Note that the petitions website looks a mess currently, the County Council are fixing it.

The "presumption" of support for Free Schools can be seen in the Council's policy on Free Schools and Academies:

We will have a presumption of support for the creation of academies and free schools, and will take our responsibility to actively manage their introduction into the existing system of schools.

The petition calls on the Council to amend this and only to support proposals for free schools where there is genuine need for such a school.

The petition also calls on the Leader of the Council, Mark Bee, to make representations to the Secretary of State to ensure that the need for free schools and their impact on local schools is considered (as the law demands).

By making representations what I mean is that the Leader of the Council should in public ensure this is done. I am not talking about secret meetings or a quiet word in his ear although that might be useful in addition.

The petition is cross party and can be signed by anyone concerned about the proposed free schools in Suffolk whatever their overall view of free schools is. People opposed to all free schools are welcome to sign as are those who are in favour of free schools but have concerns about some or all of the proposals for Suffolk.

You can also download paper petitions for signing, please return to the address on the bottom of the petition.

If more than 3700 people sign the petitions this will ensure a debate by the County Council.