Tory governments spent £325m on free schools that failed or disappeared

More than 10bn was committed to building new schools between 2014-15 and 2023-24, compared with 6.8bn for rebuilding existing schools

Conservative governments spent 325m creating 67 free schools that subsequently failed or disappeared, many through lack of demand, according to data revealed by a freedom of information request.

The figures from the Department for Education (DfE) show that the government committed more than 10bn to building new schools between 2014-15 and 2023-24, compared with 6.8bn for rebuilding existing schools, which critics say left England with a backlog of crumbling and decaying buildings.