Council "simply don’t recognise the figures that have been produced"


Cllrs Jeremy Ambache & Peter Carpenter outside the Alton Primary School

According to figures released by the National Union of Teachers (NUT), schools in Wandsworth are set to lose £15,612,273 by 2020, as a result of the Government’s so-called “Fairer Funding Formula” and other budget pressures.

Wandsworth Labour raised the issue of cuts to schools’ budgets in a debate at Wandsworth Council on 8th March. The Motion put forward by Wandsworth Labour asked the Council Leader to protect the funding for Wandsworth Schools by lobbying the Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening, who is also the MP for Putney.

According to the research Ashcroft Technical Academy which will lose £868,189 equivalent to £834 per pupil or 21 teachers.

According to Labour’s Speaker on Education, Cllr Jeremy Ambache: “The proper funding of schools is a vital issue to get right as it affects the quality of teaching and the long-term future of our children. The government’s planned reductions in funding will mean larger class sizes here in Wandsworth for all schools which will inevitably erode the quality of our children’s education”. He added: “The country can’t afford not to invest in education – it makes no economic sense to go backwards in the name of austerity and lose the gains made in London’s education over the past decades”.

Jeremy Ambache continued: “Wandsworth Council and local residents are in a strong position to lobby the Secretary of State for Education, as she is a Wandsworth MP. Putney schools alone are likely to lose £6m as a result of the proposed cuts”.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The government has protected the core schools budget in real terms since 2010, with school funding at its highest level on record at more than £40bn in 2016-17 – and that is set to rise, as pupil numbers rise, over the next two years to £42 billion by 2019-20‎. But the system for distributing that funding across the country is unfair, opaque and outdated. We are going to end the historic post code lottery in school funding and under the proposed national schools funding formula, more than half of England’s schools will receive a cash boost.

“London will remain the highest funded part of the country under our proposals, with inner London schools being allocated 30% more funding per pupil than the national average.‎ Significant protections have also been built into the formula so that no school will face a reduction of more than more than 1.5% per pupil per year or 3% per pupil overall. But we recognise that schools are facing cost pressures, which is why we will continue to provide support to help them use their funding in cost effective ways, including improving the way they buy goods and services, so‎ they get the best possible value.

“We are consulting on the factors that will make up the formula and we know that it is important that we get this right so that every pound of the investment we make in education has the greatest impact. The consultation will run until 22 March 2017, and we are keen to hear from as many schools, governors, local authorities and parents as possible.

“In total these schools receive £1.4m through the pupil premium, to support their most disadvantaged pupils. The pupil premium is protected at current rates for the rest of this parliament, so schools will continue to receive this additional funding where they have eligible pupils.”

Cllr Kathy Tracey, Wandsworth Cabinet Member for Education and Children's Services told this website: “We simply don’t recognise the figures that have been produced by this trade-union funded pressure group which appear to be hugely exaggerated when compared to the official Government figures we have been sent, which show a 1.84 per cent reduction by 2019, but which also shows that half our secondary schools benefitting to the tune of an extra £110,000 each on average over the same period.

“Clearly any reduction in funding is regrettable but these reductions are much more modest than the unions and their supporters are alleging and we will be working closely with schools to ensure that teaching budgets are protected as much as possible.”

The Government is currently consulting on the proposals and parents can have their say here - consultation closes 22nd March 2017.

Click here to read the Motion proposed by Wandsworth Labour.

March 10, 2017