Boris Johnson unveils Free Schools plan in further power drive Boris Johnson's plans are part of a bid to assert direct influence over education. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Allstar/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has announced plans to set up a dedicated unit at city hall to secure new sites for free schools. The move is part of his ambition to gain strategic oversight over education across London to drive up standards further, despite the capital already outperforming the rest of the country. The mayor, who has no formal powers over school education, will also announce on Friday his intention to set up a "London curriculum" for lower secondary school children using the city as an "educational tool." A new fund to promote teaching excellence and help tackle underperformance - particularly in literacy and numeracy, science, technology, engineering and maths - will also be made known. City hall said the Department for Education had given its support for the fund "in principle," subject to further discussions. The mayor, a champion of the government's school reforms, intends to set up a "New Schools for London" unit to help groups wishing to open a new school but struggling to find sites in a city with high land and property costs. Johnson signalled plans to offer up land and some of the property portfolio owned by the Greater London Authority, though he stressed this would be through "working closely" with councils and the Department for Education. There has been huge speculation over the mayor's ambitions to lead the Conservative party following a high-profile summer and a star turn at the party's autumn conference. However, an aide insisted his plans are not an attempted political land grab over education but a desire by Johnson to use his role to "add value" to the education system. London remained the best performing region in England and Wales for the fourth year running after summer's GCSE results, with 61.3% of students achieving five or more GCSEs at grade A* to C including English and mathematics, compared with the national average of 58.6%. Johnson sees trying to improve standards as a logical extension of his mayoral role over skills, training and employment in the capital. He will say on Friday that although many schools and teachers were doing "a sterling job," too many young Londoners were leaving school without the skills to get on in life. I want our youngsters to aspire to the highest echelons and be inspired to be the best they can be. That's why I will use the resources available to us to enable more free schools to be built across the capital. We should also maximise the potential of London's cultural and historical assets to strengthen the curriculum in our schools. Johnson's announcement will coincide with the launch of the final report of a 10-month education inquiry at Pimlico Academy, which has recently secured the go-ahead for a new primary free school to be built. Despite lauding the fact that "a London education is the best in the country," the report stresses the need to go further - an estimated 15,000 children left London primary schools still struggling with English, maths or both. Other recommendations by the 11-strong inquiry panel include: summer schools for primary school teachers to "consolidate and deepen their subject knowledge in English and maths" and a "gold club" of schools that are "bucking the trend of low aspiration and underachievement" and can share their practice. The report seeks to head off critics who will say that it is identifying a democratic gap resulting from the government's drive for free schools and academies, free of local authority control, by insisting the call to give the mayor strategic oversight is not a bid to recreate the Inner London Education Authority, which was abolished by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, or a "bureaucratic middle tier" but about a "shared vision" for education in the city. Johnson's deputy mayor for education and culture, Munira Mirza, insisted that Johnson was not engaged in a power grab. "We are asking for funding to support the free schools unit but we are not asking for formal powers or any legal changes," she said. We are asking for the tools to help London education. Mirza, who confirmed she would oversee education on behalf of the mayor, claimed the government reforms had created an unprecedented opportunity for school leaders to innovate, improve and learn from each other. "It isn't about a democratic deficit," she said. The mayor feels through regional government he can add value to the system. Though London is the only region with an elected mayor at the helm, Mirza said there was nothing stopping other cities setting strategical priorities for their region in a similar way. Michael Gove, the education secretary, welcomed the mayor's intervention. He said: "I know the mayor is incredibly ambitious for London's children and wants to ensure all schools reach the high standards set by the best. I look forward to working with him to provide greater challenge and rigour, improve performance and generate innovative practice - and to seeing what lessons London can teach the country as a whole. London Councils, the umbrella body for local authorities in the capital, said the report "rightfully recognises the absolutely vital role councils play in the education system." This week the Leaders of London's 32 boroughs signed up to a detailed set of proposals outlining how we can work closely with schools, parents and communities, as well as with the Mayor, to ensure that the London's schools continue to improve and that every child is able to find a good school place near to where they live. We are particularly concerned that academies and free schools must be open with parents about how they are performing so parents can make informed choices about which schools they trust to educate their children. These schools are funded with public money and they must be publicly accountable for it. We need the government to understand that central control of all 24,000 will not work and that local councils have a key role in making sure all schools are accountable to the communities they serve.