In October 1986, the Telegraph & Argus reported that a “political storm” was brewing over a proposal by the-then Conservative Government to create 20 city colleges of excellence with a bias towards science.

Labour’s shadow education spokesman Giles Radice described the proposal by Education Secretary Kenneth Baker as a “pre-election gimmick” which would be paid for by the great majority of pupils in overcrowded and inadequate schools.

Two years later, Kenneth Baker told the T&A: “I’ve often been accused of using the theory that if you cream off the cleverest and give them the best education, of course you will get good results. The test of the CTC (City Technology College) is if you take some of the general range of ability and do very well.”

In the autumn of 1990, Britain’s fourth CTC opened in Bradford. The £8 million Dixons City Technology College was attacked by Labour MPs, clergymen and the National Union of Teachers opposed to the idea of privately-sponsored education displacing state provision.

But it was the inability of state schools to turn out teenagers who were literate, numerate and socially well-adjusted that prompted Dixons, the high-street electrical retailer, to create what is now Dixons City Academy in the first place.

One of the big ideas of David Cameron’s Big Society is that parents and other interested parties should be able to set up and run their own schools.

The Prime Minister and Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, call them free schools.

But Councillor Ralph Berry, chairman of children’s services on Bradford Council, calls them national government schools because they are administered from Whitehall and funded centrally from taxpayers’ money.

This September one of these schools, the King’s Science Academy, is due to open on a site formerly occupied by Grattan at Lidget Green. The man behind the school is Dixons Allerton Academy teacher Sajid Hussain. He told one national newspaper his school will provide a traditional academic curriculum.

Since then the Government has given the school the go-ahead. Mr Hussain was not available for comment, but the King’s website says this about the new school: “The permanent solution for King’s Science Academy will be located on Northside Road, BD7, in the heart of Lidget Green. Building work will be completed for the 2012 academic year.

“The new multi-million (sic) building for King’s will offer large spacious classrooms, lecture theatre, hall, dining areas, library and excellent sports facilities with indoor pitches and two community sport fields for students to enjoy. The school will eventually house 800 students… “From September 2011, King’s will be in a temporary solution; a (sic) 18 classroom school block with its own entrance and exits located in an independent school (Coral College, Manningham Lane) with onsite catering and modernised furnished classrooms.”

The intention is to start the new school year in September with 140 pupils aged between 11 and 16.

By that time, of course, Bradford Council will have taken back education provision from Serco. What powers will the local authority have over schools generally, and free schools in particular?

Councillor Berry said: “If we have concerns about King’s Science Academy, we would have to contact the Government nationally. Hopefully the school will work together with other schools in Bradford 7.

“In Bradford 7 there’s no logical high school near to where people live, and schools like Grange are over-subscribed. We need King’s to be successful because it can take some of the strain away from school provision. We have 1,800 more kids to provide for across all schools, including 200 at secondary level.”

Councillor Berry remembers the furore over the creation of Dixons 21 years ago. He shrugged his shoulders ruefully at the recollection.

“They were effectively shunned at the start. But you have to work to minimise conflict and get co-operation.

“Localism in education should mean the local authority and all its partners developing a way forward to meet Bradford’s particular circumstances, which are the need for pre-school English attainment and good parenting. These are key determinants in educational attainment,” he added.