Having met with the Schools Minister in December, I met with him again in February to discuss the funding pressures which schools in the constituency are experiencing. I mentioned that I had written to every headteacher within the constituency. The Schools Minister and I went through the responses which I had received from local Headteachers.
In response to the issues around funding challenges, the Schools Minister maintained that, at over £40bl per year of Government funding, schools had never been as well funded and their cash had been ring-fenced, unlike many other public services. For East Sussex, the Schools Minister pointed to a projected increase in spending of 2.5% from the new funding formula and for my constituency, specifically, an extra 1.5%.
I explained that the extra cash was welcome to the 13 schools in my constituency who were receiving it but 23 schools were actually getting a funding cut. This was on top of the increased costs they were facing for the coming year. I explained that many of these schools were small rural primaries of the type which do not have the economies of scale to find budget savings. Using one response from a primary headteacher, I asked if it was feasible for a school to survive on single-form entry (so a size under 210 pupils). The Minister explained that it would be and the Government would be rolling out a programme to help schools get better purchasing power and to advise on other savings measures.
As I did when I met with the Secretary of State for Education in January, I reiterated my belief that laudable Government aims which have increased the pay and benefits of teachers and support staff are meaning that school budgets are being squeezed. At both of these meetings, I expressed the view that the Chancellor needs to find money for schools. I accept that this will either have to be found from cuts to other departments, raising taxes or by using the Chancellor's £23bl productivity fund. In my view, investing in education is an investment in the country as a whole.
As an alternative, I suggested that schools are funded equally and then adjustments made for deprivation. In Hackney, a school receives an average £7,000 per year per pupil. In East Sussex, it will rise to an average of £4,400. Surely we should work out the cost to educate a child and then add on more as appropriate. It would close the gap and bring more to our constituency.
In addition to meeting with Ministers, I have been corresponding on specific pressures on schools (funding, inspections, special educational needs and the Apprenticeship Levy). I have attached the Ministerial correspondence to this email in order for constituents to understand the challenges, my response and the views from the Department of Education.
I am next meeting with the Secretary of State for Education later in March when I again intend to press my case for further support for our local schools.
