Unions set out Five tests for next week’s Budget
The country’s largest education union, the National Education Union, formed in September following a merger between the NUT and ATL, has set out five tests for the Chancellor in next week’s Budget. It says they will ensure a quality education for all children:
- Reverse school cuts – ensure the same levels of per-pupil funding as in 2015.
- New money from the Treasury – the union stressed that additional funding must not be taken from other areas of education spending. They said at least £2 billion was required every year to maintain real terms per-pupil funding, given inflation and rising pupil numbers.
- Fair funding for high needs, early years and post-16 education – the union suggested that these areas have seen even larger real terms cuts since the Coalition Government came to power in 2010.
- Funding certainty – to provide stability and certainty, the NEU is asking for funding to be announced and guaranteed for at least the next five years.
- Tackle historic underfunding – schools in historically underfunded areas should receive extra money “through a process of levelling up with better-funded areas”, rather than by “taking money away from some schools to give to other schools”.
Mary Bousted, NEU’s joint general secretary, said: “The Chancellor must not fear amending his fiscal rules in line with our five tests to better safeguard our children’s future.
“Totally inadequate funding and a teacher and recruitment crisis driven by an intolerable workload and pay freezes is vastly diminishing the educational experience of children and young people and blighting the working life of many teachers.”
The Schools Minister Nick Gibb responded by saying: “There are no cuts in funding. The introduction of the national funding formula from 2018-19, backed by £1.3 billion of additional investment, has been widely welcomed and will put an end to historic disparities in the system. Every school will see an increase in funding through the formula, with secondary schools set to receive at least £4,800 per pupil by 2019-20. As the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies has confirmed, overall schools funding is being protected at a national level in real terms per pupil over the next two years.”