The Lib Dems say local authorities must retain oversight of how school places are awarded The Lib Dems are debating calls for them to turn their backs on free schools – a flagship policy of their Conservative coalition partners.
Party activists were told the new schools, approved by Parliament, would be “divisive, costly and unfair”.
Ex-MP Evan Harris said Lib Dems should be free to campaign against them.
But Schools Minister Sarah Teather said the proposal amounted to “an illiberal boycott” and the Lib Dems had helped to improve the proposals.
A motion at the party conference in Liverpool calls on the party to urge people “not to take up the option” of free schools when they first open their doors next year.
Up to 16 free schools, funded by central government and which will not require consultation with local councils, are set to open by September 2011.
Parliament backed the Conservative-led plan in July but some Lib Dems rebelled and others expressed misgivings.
The debate on free schools and expansion of academies is one of the potential flashpoints of the conference and should the motion be passed, it would be an embarrassment for the leadership.
The rebel motion says the policy will make an “already unfair” schools system more unequal, worsen educational outcomes for the majority of children, further complicate admissions procedures, jeopardise existing school building programmes and endanger provision for pupils with special needs.
It also calls for tighter guidelines on the expansion of academies, a Labour policy which the coalition has pledged to accelerate – with 140 schools on course to get academy status this year.
“We must be free to fight the Tories at local level up and down the country.””
Evan Harris Lib Dem MP
It says local authorities should retain “strategic oversight” of the publicly funded provision of school places and maintain support for all state-funded schools and for ministers to ensure existing state schools are not financially disadvantaged as a result.
Lib Dem councillor Peter Downes said the proposals were “incompatible” with long-held party principles and amounted to a massive centralisation of education provision.
Free schools posed a “potentially very significant threat to the stability, fairness and viability of our schools system”, he said.
It was a fallacy that there was demand for “root and branch reform” of schools by parents concerned about the standards of schools in their area.
“There is no widespread demand for schools to be revolutionised,” he said.
An amendment to the motion – supported by the leadership – rejects calls for a boycott and urges Lib Dem MPs to work within government to ensure funding for refurbishing existing schools is not “prejudiced” by the cost of establishing free schools.
It also urges free schools to be concentrated in areas where there is clear demand for new places and for the government to concentrate on providing increased resources for schools in the most deprived communities through the party’s “pupil premium” proposal.
Schools minister Sarah Teather said Lib Dems had improved the schools legislation to make it more transparent, to protect vulnerable children and to retain local authority oversight over admissions.
She said the changes were “part of a package” that would see increased support for pupils from deprived backgrounds and reform of early years education and said it was right councils should be able to work with new providers to improve opportunities for children.
“Don’t vote for a boycott, don’t tie councils’ hands,” she urged delegates.
But Mr Harris – who lost his seat at the election – said it was not illiberal for Lib Dems to be allowed to campaign on issues they felt strongly about.
“We must be free to fight the Tories at a local level up and down the country,” he said.
Ahead of the conference, the Lib Dems said they would take on board members’ feelings on the policy and other controversial issues but were committed to implementing the coalition agreement.
Speaking before the debate, Deputy leader Simon Hughes said the law had been passed but denied the debate was meaningless, as it was an opportunity for the party to “reaffirm” its principles.
Unions said the Lib Dems could not be “taken seriously” over education policy.
“The coalition policies for education are unadulterated Tory education ideology,” said Chris Keates, general secretary of the Nasuwt teaching union.
“Claims by the Liberal Democrat Leadership that they have secured a famous victory on the pupil premium are risible. The premium currently being considered does not propose anything remotely like the pupil premium in the Liberal Democrat manifesto.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.