Teaching unions hit back at £1.5bn pledge for schools

Nov 13 2007 by Rob Merrick, Liverpool Daily Post

THE government clashed with teaching unions yesterday after pledging a schools' budget of nearly £1.5bn for Merseyside and Cheshire by the end of the decade.

Ministers said the funding settlement built on the "record investment of the last ten years" and would step up the drive to raise the standards of all children.

In Liverpool, for example, spending-per-pupil will rise by an inflation-busting 13% over three years, to reach £4,675-per-pupil by 2010.

And there will be extra money for deprived areas – giving the city an extra 18% next year from that separate pot, against a national average of 12.1%.

Jim Knight, the schools minister, said: "We want maximum resources targeted at teaching and learning.

"That's why we are giving schools the financial stability to plan ahead with confidence, with the first-ever three year funding settlement."

But headteachers described the increases as less generous than in the past and warned new government initiatives would increase pressure on school funds.

Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said schools would "feel the pinch".

And the Association of School and College Leaders also said it was "disappointed" at the level of funding, which was failing to keep pace with rising costs.

John Dunford, its general secretary, warned it would "put some schools in a very tight financial situation".

And he added: "Since the government has cut back on funding, it likewise must cut back on the number of new initiatives it expects schools to implement."

Meanwhile, the National Association of Women Teachers warned schools and local authorities not to target teachers' pay, working conditions and jobs to balance the books.

The first ever three-year funding settlement adds up to a 2.8% real-terms annual increase, which will take the nation's education budget to £74bn by 2010.

Education has done better than most other departments as government spending slows, but the increases are lower than through most of the Labour years.

Meanwhile, schools have been set tough new targets to improve pupils' health and achievement and to narrow the gap between well-off pupils and those from disadvantaged homes.

By 2010, schools in Merseyside will enjoy funding of £850m and those in Cheshire will receive £600m, a total of £1.45bn.

In Merseyside, the budgets will be; Liverpool (£279m), Wirral (£196m), Sefton (£165m), St Helens (£108m) and Knowsley (£102m).

Spending per pupil will be; Liverpool (£4,675), Wirral (£4,269), Sefton (£4,227), St Helens (£4,290) and Knowsley (£4,621).

Mr Knight said that, including capital and information technology funding, spending-per-pupil will reach £6,600 – double the level when Labour came to power in 1997.

But teachers' leaders have pointed out that still falls far short of spending in private schools – a gap Gordon Brown has pledged to close.