The government’s announcement today of the retention of a faith-selection cap for new schools is not as simple as it may look.

A cap will remain in place for new free schools meaning only 50 per cent of pupils can be selected on the grounds of religion.

But at the same time, the Department for Education has pledged to fund new voluntary aided (VA) schools, which can select all of their pupils on the grounds of faith. This raises the following questions:

Does the government want new schools to open with 100 per cent faith admissions?

Yes. And no. The announcements made today prevent it with one hand and promote it with another.

The faith cap will remain in place for new free schools, but the DfE will also fund new VA schools. 

VA schools have always been able to open with 100 per cent faith admissions, but until now, the route has been largely seen as redundant, as there has been no government funding available for it.

By pledging to fund VA schools alongside free schools, the DfE has brought this contradiction to the fore.

Has the government broken a Conservative manifesto pledge?

While the faith cap on free schools remains, it would be too simple to describe this as a U-turn.

The Conservative Party manifesto in 2017 promised to remove “the unfair and ineffective inclusivity rules that prevent the establishment of new Roman Catholic schools”.

The Catholic Church has today accused the government of breaking that election promise to 6 million Catholics by retaining the faith cap. But can the government argue that it has found a new way of honouring the manifesto by financing the VA route for new Catholic schools to open?  

Why hasn’t the government lifted the faith cap?

The government planned to remove the faith cap on new free schools in its green paper, Schools that Work for Everyone, in 2016. After taking office earlier this year, education secretary Damian Hinds indicated that he wanted to do this. Today, the DfE appears to have put forward a compromise instead.

By offering to fund 90 per cent of the cost of VA schools, it is providing a different route for faith groups to open new schools and select all pupils on the basis of faith. 

Some have speculated that the change of direction is the result of the 2017 general election that cost the Conservatives their majority. But the DfE has yet to respond on whether it would have needed to pass legislation to remove the faith cap on new free schools. 

It looks like the department has sought a way of achieving a goal without having to go through a political battle, either inside or outside of Parliament.

What did the consultation tell ministers?

The DfE consulted on whether the 50 per cent faith cap on free schools could be replaced by measures such as having schools prove that parents of other faiths would be happy to send their child there; establishing twinning arrangements with other schools not of their faith; or appointing a member or director of a different faith to the governing body.

The responses to the consultation, published today, say there were “mixed views” as to whether these were effective alternatives to a faith cap. Concerns were also voiced about how they would work in practice.

What happens next?

Both the Catholic Church and the Church of England said today that they would explore opening new VA schools on the back of the announcement.

Unlike the free schools programme, the VA route will mean those proposing the new school will have to pay towards the capital costs - at least 10 per cent.

But Tes understands that for organisations such as the Catholic Church, this is not likely to be seen as a major obstacle. 

For the Catholic Church, what remains unclear is how the role of local authorities will affect this. 

The DfE said it would work with local authorities to create these schools where they are needed. Does this mean that the support of councils will be needed to open new VA schools in a way that is not the case with the free school programme? And will this be a major stumbling block?

Where does this leave the free school programme?

Until today, there was a clear understanding that the government wanted all new schools to be free schools. Should local councils want to open a school, they were expected to run a competition to find a free school sponsor. Now the DfE is promising funding from its £270m free school budget to allow maintained schools to be opened outside of this model.  

Coupled with the scaling back of forced academisation, announced last week, it shows the department has a very different set of priorities today compared with the vision it once had of all schools becoming academies.

The National Education Union and the Local Government Association have already reacted to this announcement by calling for councils to be given the powers to open up their own schools.  

If the government is willing to fund new VA schools through local authorities on the basis of local demand, will this shift the debate on whether councils should be able to open maintained schools? 

Some believe today’s announcement could result in legal challenges from local authorities wanting to do this. 

So it remains to be seen whether the DfE’s new position will be perceived as an effective compromise on faith schools or a series of contradictions that the department will struggle to defend.