Loss of £2.8m funding has ‘cut into bone’ says head
CHRIS GEE
AHEADTEACHER has claimed five years of funding cuts to Hyndburn primary and secondary schools totalling £2.8m will ‘ cut into the bone’.
The comments from Accrington St Christopher’s head Richard Jones come after the Government found a £50 million funding pot available for a controversial grammar school expansion policy.
The Queens Road West academy school is facing a real terms cut of nearly £200,000 in the five years to 2020, according to the schoolcuts.org.uk website.
According to the published figures the school will see a decrease of £197,751 over the period.
Mr Jones said: “Five years of increasing cuts has now cut into the bone and is affecting us in three ways.
“The first is the ability to obtain textbooks and equipment, secondly the need to maintain and update our buildings and fixtures, and thirdly pressure on our staffing levels.
“This comes as the government has found £50m to fund grammar schools when there is no evidence as far as I can see that this was needed.”
St Christopher’s is an academy which receives its funding direct from central government and is not within Lancashire County Council control.
County education chiefs have responded that per pupil funding across Lancashire is actually on the up.
Mr Jones added: “Our intention is for all our students to have the best opportunity to thrive and go out into the world equipped to do whatever SECONDARY SCHOOLS: Accrington Academy Accrington St Christopher’s Church of England High School Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School Norden High School & Sports College Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School The Hollins Technology College Total secondary schools cut: Total primary schools cut: £415,730 £197,751 £374,754 £48,693 £194,274 £256,822 £1,488,024 £1,337,990 they want.”
The figures calculate that 41 primary and secondary schools in Hyndburn are facing a revenue cut of £2.8m.
Hyndburn MP Graham Jones claimed that our schools are ‘at breaking point’.
He said: “Lancashire has been hit extremely hard and faces the second largest cuts in the country.
“By 2019/20 funding will have fallen by £33,343,918 within just five years.
“While our comprehensive schools reach break- ing point it has just been announced that grammar schools will be given £50 million of government funding.”
The schoolcuts.org.uk figures are for the core schools budget, so do not include early years or sixth forms.
Their methodology took the schools block funding allocations from 2015/16 as the baseline and factored in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s estimate for inflation for 2015 to 2020.
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