By JAMES CHAPMAN
Power to the people: The Queen's Speech is set to take on a 'Big Society' theme
The biggest shake-up of education in a generation and fundamental reform of the political system will form the centrepiece of a 500-day 'power to the people' plan being unveiled by the Government today.
The first Queen's Speech of the coalition government will prioritise plans to liberate hundreds of schools from state control by allowing them to become academies.
Charities, businesses and even groups of parents will be invited to set up and run new 'free schools' using taxpayers' money.
The move will smash the state monopoly on education forever and threatens to pitch the Lib-Con administration into a battle with the educational establishment and trades unions.
It will be the first measure in a 'big society' programme designed to 'take power away from politicians and give it to the people'.
Other plans include introducing a national citizen service programme for 16-year-olds, a shakeup of the planning system to give communities more power, letting public sector workers take over services and run them as cooperatives and giving the public access to government data.
Measures to be introduced in a Parliamentary Reform Bill, meanwhile, will give voters the right to force by-elections to get rid of corrupt MPs, force the Commons to debate particular subjects via petitions, reduce the number of MPs and introduce fixed-term Parliaments.
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A Great Repeal Bill will enact Tory and Lib Dem promises to rein in the intrusive state built up under Labour, scrapping ID cards and limiting the use of CCTV and of DNA databases.
The first piece of legislation to be introduced by the Government tomorrow will be an Academies Bill. All existing state schools will be invited to convert to academy status, including primary schools for the first time.
Education Secretary Michael Gove predicts that hundreds and even thousands of schools will take up the offer, with the first wave doing so in September.
John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'The danger is that this could break up the system, with the better schools having more money and greater independence and the other schools finding life more difficult. We must avoid that polarisation of the system because the people who suffer in that situation tend to be the disadvantaged.'
Separate legislation will follow to allow charities, businesses and community groups to acquire and convert land and buildings as premises for 'free schools'.
In Sweden, which has adopted a similar programme of schools reform, many new schools are located in office blocks but are hugely popular with parents who recognise the exceptional quality of teaching.
Other key Bills in the Queen's Speech include a Pensions and Savings Bill, restoring the link between the state pension and earnings, and a European Bill requiring a referendum before any future transfer of powers to Brussels.
A poll last night suggested the coalition is enjoying strong levels of public support.
The first ICM poll for the Guardian since the election shows that overall, 59 per cent of voters approve of the new government and 32 per cent oppose it.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1281210/Queens-speech-leads-education-Schools-freed-state-control.html#ixzz0ou16CwNQ
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