Future for schools '˜bleak' as plea for more cash ignored by government

For months, headteachers, parents, teachers, governors and MPs have been imploring the Department for Education (DfE) to provide extra cash to help schools make ends meet before the introduction of its new education funding system.

The DfE laid out details of the new system – known as the National Funding Formula – last week as it entered its second consultation phase.

But it brought no Christmas cheer to West Sussex headteachers.

While there will ultimately be more money for their schools, no mention was made of any interim payments to help them balance the books before the new formula comes into play in April 2018.

While welcoming the news the NFF would be fully implemented by 2020, heads warned the extra cash lined up for West Sussex would be nowhere near enough to counter the pressure of rising costs.

The county has for years been one of the most poorly funded local authorities in the country, and schools have seen their reserves whittled away. Increases to pension contributions and national insurance, coupled with pay rises and grant losses have left many schools facing a financial deficit.

A spokesman for West Sussex County Council calculated the county would receive, on average, an additional £7.95million in 2018/19 and £14.5million when the new funding formula was implemented in full in 2020.

This equates to an average increase of £79.32 per pupil in 2018/19 and £144.62 per pupil in 2020. It would still see West Sussex funded below today’s average.

A council spokesman said: “Whilst we welcome the introduction of the new formula, we note that this will not be in place until 2018.

“This is too late for our schools, which are currently facing the very difficult task of identifying further cost saving options to stop the damaging effects of the financial pressures they are currently experiencing.

“We therefore await with interest confirmation from government as to whether schools will receive the transitional funding they so desperately need in advance of the introduce of this new funding formula.”

The lack of interim funding was the primary concern for headteachers who signed up to the Worth Less? campaign for fairer funding.

A statement said: “Our budgets are at breaking point now and we need support for basic provision for April 2017.

“We cannot wait another 18 months for appropriate transitional support whilst other schools in England enjoy much better settlements under the existing framework for the upcoming financial year.”

Over the past year, headteachers have made it abundantly clear to MPs that they needed money NOW and could not afford to wait for the new system to come into play.

Without the extra help, heads warned they would have to increase class sizes and might not be able to afford to keep their schools open full-time. Despite television appearances, a Parliamentary debate and a highly publicised trip to Downing Street to deliver a letter to the Prime Minister, it seems those warnings have fallen on deaf ears.

The Worth Less? campaigners added: “Perhaps more significantly, early indications suggest that in real terms our budgets will be undermined by the continued introduction of other ‘hidden’ costs which are independently estimated at between 8-10 per cent of our revenues.

“If this occurs then schools will be at best in the same position as today. This is extremely worrying as West Sussex children and their families will be continue to be disadvantaged.”