Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders consider what the ‘mini budget’ will mean for school finances
Commenting on today’s mini-budget, Barton said:
“This morning, we’ve heard the chancellor set out a ‘mini-budget’ in which the government has given away billions of pounds to promote growth, but not a penny for education, where not only is growth presumably deemed to be unimportant but so is maintaining current provision. The chancellor states that promoting economic growth will generate money for public services. However, the crisis in our schools and colleges is happening now, and a plan which he acknowledges will not happen overnight, will not pay the bills.
“Schools and colleges face huge extra costs from national pay awards for which there is no additional funding, and energy bills, which the government’s support scheme only partially addresses. They simply do not have the money to afford these costs. Without urgent financial support from the government, it is likely that there will be deep cuts to provision and the risk of a decline in educational standards. Some schools, particularly small primaries, may no longer be financially viable. It is inevitable that we will see larger class sizes, cuts to subject options and pastoral support, school trips cancelled, extra-curricular programmes scrapped, and widespread job losses.”
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