Tory school cuts ‘will hit 2m pupils and disabled’
NEARLY a third of schools face cuts under the Tories’ new funding formula, Labour claimed yesterday.
Education Secretary Justine Greening said the reforms will give extra money to 10,000 schools in England from 2018.
But Labour said the changes will also hit around 9,000 schools and more than two million pupils with cuts of up to 3% a year.
And charities warned children with disabilities and learning difficulties would suffer.
Ms Greening told MPs the changes will give extra money to schools “underfunded” for years.
“Our proposed formula will result in more than 10,000 schools now gaining funding and more than 3,000 of them receiving an increase of more than 5%,” she said.
Opponents say the move will benefit schools in Tory-held rural areas at the expense of inner cities. Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner said: “The Government is simply moving inadequate sums of money around.
“According to their own figures, over two million pupils will lose out. The Tories are cutting budgets overall and schools are struggling.
“This is not the way to deliver the world-class education system our children deserve.”
The National Deaf Children’s Society and the Royal National Institute of Blind People warned councils will “lose vital long-term funding for disabled children to fund increases in other areas”.
The charities added: “These proposals are simply unacceptable.”
Lib Dem education spokesman John Pugh said: “We are seeing real- terms cuts to funding and pupils will lose out. For the Government to be patting themselves on the back and claiming they’re investing more is frankly ludicrous.”