Prospect welcomes education select committee findings
The House of Commons Select Education Select Committee has published its report on school and college funding which has been welcomed by Prospect’s Education and Children’s Services Group.
The Committee identified a ‘bleak funding picture’ and called for the Department to make ‘the strongest possible case to the Treasury for multi-billion pound increases’ and a ‘strategic long term approach to spending’.
It highlighted the need to increase high needs funding for special educational needs and disabilities to ‘address a projected deficit of at least £1.2 billion’, adding that funding uplifts should take into account the costs of Education, Health and Care plans up to the age of 25.
The report highlighted the 55% reduction in local authority spending on schools (for example SEN and education-related services) between 2009-10 and 2017-18. This has seen critical services to schools and children and young people such as schools improvement, inclusion and early intervention devastated, and professionals in those services stretched to breaking point.
Welcoming the report Steve Thomas, Prospect national secretary, said
“Now is the time for the Government to act on report’s compelling call to reverse the chronic underfunding of schools, colleges and local authorities.
“There is no longer any credible argument that disputes the urgent need to reverse years of entirely inadequate funding.
“In addition, the Committee was right to highlight serious questions about the role of ‘schools resource management advisers’, particularly given the number of non-teaching education professionals lost at the same time.
“Prospect calls on the Government to recognise the policy failings of short-termism and a lack of transparency. These will need to be addressed in order to inform the funding package for the ten-year plan the report recommends’.