Schools ‘may cut staff to pay bills’

TEACHING staff may be slashed, class sizes increased and school trips axed as head teachers grapple with energy bill rises of more than 300 per cent.

Schools and businesses are not covered by the energy price cap, which will rise to £3,549 a year for those on default tariffs in October.

So some are already expecting to axe teaching assistants, building projects and school trips, while others could increase the size of lessons and have restrictions on heating.

The National association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said ‘many’ schools are predicting that they will be plunged into deficit this year unless the Government steps in to help.

Rachael Warwick, executive headteacher of the Ridgeway Education Trust, which has three schools in south Oxfordshire, said it currently has ‘healthy’ reserves of about £1million. However, it faces 525 per cent hikes in gas charges and 354 per cent rises in electricity bills from October.

She told Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday: ‘If you fast forward 18 months... we simply cannot manage ongoing increases of nearly £1million a year for our utilities costs.’ She added that heating will be turned down and staff and students asked to wear extra clothing.

Nick Hudson, chief executive of Ormiston academies Trust, which has 43 schools nationwide, told the programme its energy costs have risen by 250 per cent since March. The trust is anticipating an energy bill next year of £14.3million – £9.2million more than in 2021/22.

Robert Halfon, chairman of the Commons education committee, said ministers should introduce three different subsidised tariffs – for struggling households, essential services, such as schools, and small businesses.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: ‘It is likely that we will see cuts to curriculum options, larger class sizes, and reductions in extra-curriculars such as school trips and the number of teaching assistants.’

a Department for Education spokesman said: ‘To support schools we are increasing core funding by £4billion this year alone.’