Claims there is an emergency in Putney but Council dismiss figures


image: schoolcuts.org.uk

Data shown on the re-launched National Education Union’s ‘School Cuts’ website, claims to show that 60 of 66 schools in Wandsworth have less money per pupil in real terms in 2020 than in 2015.

The site quotes figures that schools in Wandsworth have seen a cuts totalling £28.3m between 2015 and 2019 and an average of £403 per-pupil cut.

Several schools across the Putney constituency have seen severe cuts such as The Alton School in Roehampton, which has seen £283,807 cut since 2015 and a per-pupil loss of £772.



Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Putney, Sue Wixley, said, “The Conservatives are failing our children and this data reveals the truth behind Boris Johnson’s snappy soundbites - teachers are still being forced to choose between cutting staff and buying basic supplies.

“Liberal Democrats demand better for our children’s futures. We are calling for an urgent cash injection to reverse school cuts so that teachers have the resources they need to help their pupils to flourish and succeed.”



However, when the site was shown to the Council, Education spokesman Cllr Will Sweet, pictured above, he said: “We simply don’t recognise the figures produced by this trade-union backed pressure group. They appear to have been massaged and twisted to fit their particular narrative by omitting various pots of funding and taking a spuriously high rate of inflation to back up their claims.

“The facts are that last year funding for our schools rose by £3.7m. In this current financial year, our schools budgets rose by an additional £3.4m and next year investment in our children’s education is set to increase again by approximately £5m.

“I rather suspect the unions must be somewhat frustrated that all their efforts to paint a false picture to parents has been undone by recent Government announcements on extra funding for schools. “

The Department of Education declined to comment.

October 3, 2019