Social policy case study 3: The Free Schools policy

Abstract

This chapter focuses on one of the most prominent elements of social policy pursued by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government since May 2010, namely education, and specifically the Free Schools agenda. As a high-profile component of the 2010 Conservative Party manifesto,1 the proposal came to practical policy fruition within the coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrats in seeking to ‘promote the reform of schools in order to ensure that new providers can enter the state school system in response to parental demand (and) that all schools have greater freedom over the curriculum’.2 This initiative has subsequently provided a pertinent indicator of how Conservative social policy has evolved and developed since the party lost national power in 1997. As a policy area with extensive public impact, education has also illustrated the Cameron leadership’s interpretation of what ‘social justice’ entails in contemporary society, while seeking to maximise its impact in the process. The development and evolution of this agenda and its associated aims and socio-political principles provide, therefore, an effective means of assessing how the modern Conservative Party has sought to adapt and infuse its own ideological heritage and distinct political traditions into social policy formulation. The actual policy outcome that has emerged also reflects a pragmatic reaction to both coalition government and the realities of a political landscape moulded by 13 years of a Labour administration.