New Report Backs Local View: Ministers To Blame For Schools Cash Crisis

20.5.03

"This was a crisis made in Whitehall"

Responding to a new report by the N.U.T into this year's school funding crisis, Edward Davey, Liberal Democrat MP for Kingston and Surbiton, said the report "backed the local view in Kingston, that this was a crisis made in Whitehall". While Ministers sought to blame local education authorities, this report shows the real cause was poor planning by Government.

The funding crisis this year has caused schools in Kingston and Surbiton endless problems, despite the efforts of the Council to pass on all the cash it could to schools. The report shows that s range of central policy changes came together - including new local government grant funding, the introduction of a new schools funding formula, changes to National Insurance and pension contributions, alterations to teacher salary scales and the introduction of the workload agreement - yet Ministers failed to foresee the combined impact on devolved school budgets.

Edward Davey MP commented:

"Although these changes involved three major government departments, no single minister or ministerial team was in overall charge. There was never going to be a happy ending.

"When things went disastrously wrong ministers refused to discuss possible explanations with LEAs or schools, preferring instead to engage in a process of disinformation that would have embarrassed the Iraqi Minister for Information.

"The Government knew that of the £2.7 billions promised to schools £2.44bn was already earmarked to meet additional costs imposed on schools by government.

"The funding crisis is not simply a personal tragedy for the individuals concerned but it has a serious impact on the education of our children my constituency. This is what happens when Ministers seek to micro-manage everything from the centre.

"According to research by the NUT over 1000 teaching posts could be axed in the coming months and whilst not all will be directly as a result of budget cuts, a great many will."

Full text of the NUT report can be found on line at http://www.data.teachers.org.uk