Andrew Dismore

1967/2013 ‑ Free schools permitted development rights

Andrew Dismore

Do you support the recent relaxation of planning controls for free schools?

 

Boris Johnson (Mayor of London):  Yes, I do think free schools are excellent, Andrew.  It is a great thing that London has now done more.  I think now something like 38% of all the free schools in the whole country have been in London, although we have a huge shortage of school places in this city.  We need to build more schools.  We will need 118,000 new primary places by 2016 alone.

 

I think the Labour Party seems to be moving in the right direction because Stephen Twigg [Shadow Secretary of State for Education] the other day said that Labour would now support the formation of parent‑led academies as a policy on which I am sure he supports.  Lord Adonis [Chair, London First’s Crossrail 2 Taskforce], the Labour peer who is responsible for drawing up the Labour manifesto or something like that, says that this will enable more parent‑led academies like the West London Free School, like Toby Young’s excellent school in Hammersmith, if it is now official Labour policy to support those free schools, then, Andrew, I am supporting you.

 

Andrew Dismore (AM):  That is not actually what the question was.  If you actually look at what the question was, it is about whether you support the relaxation of planning controls in relation to free schools.  Is it fair for free school pupils, for example, to be shoehorned into a wholly unsuitable site at the whim of Michael Gove [Secretary of State for Education]?  Is it fair for local residents that a free school can be sprung on them with no opportunity to object to an unsuitable location due to your government’s change of planning law?  Why should free schools be allowed to ride roughshod over local people this way because of the abolition of the change of use rules just for free schools, allowing leisure facilities, hotels, business premises, residential homes, all to be switched without even a planning application to be a school?  In fact, the only thing that seems to have been left out of the change of use regulations changes is fire stations and police stations which I think you want to see as free schools rather than used for what they were actually designed for in the first place.

 

Boris Johnson (Mayor of London):  So you want ‑‑

 

Andrew Dismore (AM):  I want you to answer my ‑‑

 

Boris Johnson (Mayor of London):  You are opposed to new schools?

 

Andrew Dismore (AM):  I want you to answer my question about planning law.

 

Boris Johnson (Mayor of London):  I have.  I have said yes.  You missed it.  You have to listen.  If I say yes, then that is the answer.

 

Andrew Dismore (AM):  So you support the change of use regulations so that anyone can build a free school without the benefit of planning consent?

 

Boris Johnson (Mayor of London):  I support the creation of more free schools and, yes, I have seen several applications.  I must not fetter my discretion but when I see an application that I think is going to do damage to the green belt or involves unnecessary loss of green space, then I will say no.

 

Andrew Dismore (AM):  But the problem is ‑‑

 

Boris Johnson (Mayor of London):  But generally speaking, we have a massive shortage of school places in this city and it is a good thing to build more schools.

 

Andrew Dismore (AM):  But you cannot do that with these new planning rules.  I do not think you have read them, Boris.  What about Avanti School?  I have written to you about this one.  Trying to muscle in next to Broadfields Primary ‑‑

 

Boris Johnson (Mayor of London):  Which school?

 

Andrew Dismore (AM):  Avanti Free School.  I wrote to you about this last month.  Obviously you do not read your letters.  It is trying to muscle into Broadfields Primary in a site that is —

 

Boris Johnson (Mayor of London):  Forgive me.  I get a lot of letters, Andrew.  I am sure I have read your letter but I am sorry the contents of it ‑‑

 

Andrew Dismore (AM):  You have the attention span of a goldfish if you did not pick this up.

 

Boris Johnson (Mayor of London):  I am sorry the contents of it are not immediately in my mind eloquently though you are right.

 

Andrew Dismore (AM):  Let me put the question to you.  OK.  What about Avanti Free School?  They have tried to muscle into a site next to Broadfields Primary ‑‑

 

Boris Johnson (Mayor of London):  The last thing I would accuse you of is being tedious.

 

Andrew Dismore (AM):  ‑‑ with 1,700 children, a site that is woefully too small.  They want to put ten portacabins next to Fairway Primary which brings nothing to local people except inconvenience and traffic jams.  There are no places for local kids which is the intention of free schools, no places for local kids because these schools are based in Harrow where they draw their pupils from, not Barnet, completely contrary to the intention of free schools.

 

You have a role here.  When are you going to exercise that role and make sure that proper planning arrangements are put in place so that local people’s objections are properly considered?  Or are you simply going to push this to one side?  I bet if they were going to do this on the playing fields of Eton you would be objecting.

 

Boris Johnson (Mayor of London):  Here we go.  Here we go.  Indeed, indeed.  As you rightly say, I went to the same school as the party leader.  I did.  I was at the same London primary school as Ed Miliband, the Labour Party leader.  A great school it is, Primrose Hill Primary School, and it made us what we are today.  I have great confidence in all schools.  They are improving by the way, London schools.  It is a fantastic story of improvement in the last few years and ‑‑

 

Andrew Dismore (AM):  What about the planning applications?

 

Boris Johnson (Mayor of London):  ‑‑ I do not know why you are so hostile to this new school.  I will go and read your scintillating letter and see why you object so passionately to a new school in your constituency.

 

Andrew Dismore (AM):  Thousands of local residents are objecting, Boris.

 

Boris Johnson (Mayor of London):  There you go.  Some local people do not want to have their lives interrupted by schoolchildren.  I will find out why.  I will do my best to be reasonable with you and with these people who so dislike schoolchildren and I will see what I can do to help.  But I am in favour of more school places.  I think we have a problem in London.  We have too few primary places, too few secondary places.  We need to build more schools and the answer to your question is yes.

 

Andrew Dismore (AM):  Excellent.

 

Andrew Boff (AM):  Mr Mayor, do you think that Assembly Member Dismore, like some lonely Japanese soldier in the jungle, has not received the message that in the class war on education their bosses have actually surrendered?

 

Boris Johnson (Mayor of London):  No.  He has not received the message that they have just done a policy U‑turn.  Since he tabled this question, [Stephen] Twigg [Shadow Secretary of State for Education] has actually come out in favour of free schools in the form of so‑called parent‑led academies.  I know Lord Adonis can be a very tricky customer but he seems to be saying ‑‑

 

Darren Johnson (Chair):  Can I ask Members to stop arguing across the Chamber while the Mayor is trying to answer?  Thank you.

 

Boris Johnson (Mayor of London):  Thank you very much, Darren, for that generous assistance.  I am surprised by Andrew’s [Dismore] vicious attack on this school that people want to build in his constituency and the aspirations and hopes of everybody involved in it.  I will get to the bottom of why he objects.  I imagine it is some not in my backyard (NIMBY) complaint or other.  I will have a look, without in any way fettering my discretion over planning.