Nov 10, 2022, Portsmouth News: Hampshire headteachers 'concerned' for future as spending cuts bite into education sector https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/education/hampshire-headteachers-concerned-for-future-as-spending-cuts-bite-into-education-sector-3913017
S. England
TWO Hampshire headteachers have sent a message to the government amid a deepening educational funding crisis.
New projections compiled by School Cuts show that 90 per cent of schools will have lower per-pupil funding in 2023/24 than the previous year.
This amounts to a real terms cut of £147 per pupil over the same period - this is on top of the historic real terms cuts felt across the country. This cut in per pupil funding is equivalent to a cut in school spending power of £1bn or 2.4 per cent. Educators fear this could cut services such as mental health provision, school trips and building repairs due to rising costs and energy bills.
Ian Gates, headteacher of The Cowplain School said that as the individual suffers with the cost of living ‘schools will also’.
He said: ‘What we’re concerned about is that schools are seeing the result of the cost of living crisis at the moment and are trying hard to put interventions in place and support our young people and we need to be funded properly to be able to do that.
‘We’re already having to pay the pay rise for staff without any additional funding and also the increased utility bills - again we’re not getting any additional funding for that.
‘I do think that somewhere along the line there are going to be other schools that are going to have to cut those other services that we desperately want to keep going.
‘We’re in a good position at the moment because we run strong, prudent accounting and we predicted this some time ago.
‘Whilst the crisis may not be apparent at the moment this is going to catch up with us.
‘Like everybody else we have to pay the bills - if we’re prone to big increases in all those areas and we don’t receive additional funds we’re going to have to look at our provision and make sure we can afford to do everything that we want to do.’
Simon Harrison, headteacher of the Crofton School added: ‘Although our budget is well managed and currently in a secure position short term.
‘However, analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that, on current government spending plans, schools will be receiving three per cent less funding per pupil in real terms by the end of this parliament in 2024/25 than they were in 2010.
‘I’m already concerned for our future financial sustainability, and any further cuts to education funding would clearly make this concern far greater.
‘At the same time schools are still addressing the long-term impact of Covid-19 on our students and their families, alongside rising energy bills and ever-growing pressure on our support services as other external agencies also struggle to find funding.
‘We should all be concerned about the impact inadequate funding of education will have on the life chances of our students, and the long-term damage that lack of educational investment will cause to national economic growth and stability.
Before the expected cuts, real terms per-pupil funding remains lower than it was in 2015-16. In 2015-16 it stood at £6,205 and in 2022-23 it is £178 less.
School spending power is £1.3 bn l[$1.5B] ower than it was in 2015-16 or 2.9 per cent.
Crofton School headteacher Simon Harrison. Picture: Loughlan Campbell