Tories offer parents 'fair deal'

Mr Duncan Smith promised parental power over education spending

Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith has promised to give parents the power take their children out of failing schools and move them to another of their choice.

Under the state scholarship scheme, parents in the worst local education authority areas would be able to demand the release of the funding for their child's education.

They would be able to use it to "buy" a place elsewhere - whether an independent school with extra places or a state school which had opted out of the local authority system.

At the same time, Tories say they would lift the restrictions on successful state schools expanding, enabling them to offer places to more pupils.

'Left behind'

Mr Duncan Smith said: "The Conservatives will give pupils a fair deal.

"Our policy of state scholarships will give parents in some of our worst-off communities school choice for the first time.

"Starting with the inner cities, where too many children are being left behind, we want to see a radical extension of school choice."

He added that charities, community groups, companies, and parents' groups would be able to set up schools or take on the management of existing ones.

These would receive funding through state scholarships for the pupils they attract.

Mr Duncan Smith added: "Our proposals will give real power to parents so that they can get the best for their children.

"We are determined that children do not get left behind in failing schools. But that is exactly what is happening today, especially in our inner cities."

Mr Duncan Smith highlighted figures showing that a third of under 14s in London could not read, write and count properly, while nearly 250,000 children in the capital played truant last year.