Funding for local state schools

Statement

We, the undersigned, petition the council to do the following:

1. Push the government to invest more in the schools budget, levelling up those schools with lower budgets, rather than taking money from one set of schools to give to another.

2. Push the government to protect per pupil funding in real terms for the life of this parliament.

3. Properly fund the support provided to children with Special Educational Needs, and ensure that any overspend by Achieving for Children in this area does not lead to budget reductions for our local schools.

4. Ensure that schools with specific or unusual circumstances (such as operating across multiple sites, or under PFI arrangements, or with a sudden reduction in a revenue stream) are properly funded so that the individual school’s education budget is not put in jeopardy.

Details

This petition calls on Richmond Council to support fair funding for all schools. Our children’s future should not be put at risk by budget cuts which will affect the quality and depth of their education through redundancies, increased class sizes or reduction in the variety of subjects taught.

Started by: Christopher Key

This petition ran from 03/04/2017 to 15/08/2017.

Council response

Provided by the Strategic Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Schools: 

Since 2010, we have given the commitment to our residents that Richmond’s schools, which we consider to be the best in the country thanks to our teachers, school leaders, governors, and families, would be one of the highest priorities of this council.

That is why despite the huge reduction in the Council’s own funding, we have enabled investment of over £100m in our schools. This has gone to much needed primary and secondary expansion, the introduction of sixth forms that now have almost 1,000 students, a transformational rebuild of Richmond College, and desperately needed rebuilds and expansion of our SEN schools. We have continued to contribute to annual maintenance, and recently have committed £1m following the end of a government educational grant. This major investment is benefiting education in our borough, for all students.

While budgets across government are being cut (the Council itself is losing 66% of its government funding over four years), and schools funding has rightly been more protected than other areas, we have recognised the pressure of tightening budgets on our schools. Budgets are tightening not just due to inflation, but also by increased costs including from national insurance increases, pensions, pay awards, and the apprenticeship levy, all of which have their justifications within government spending.

That is why we have already written to Education ministers directly, and the Department for Education, to highlight the challenges our schools are facing, and to seek a better, fairer solution for our schools in Richmond. We are continuing that dialogue. We want to work with the Government constructively to not just maintain, but build on the quality of education in our borough.

Nevertheless, while working with Government on practical solutions that help our schools, our Council has always taken the approach that it is better to deal honestly with residents and not make easy gestures. Political parties have in the past made the mistake of making promises they could not keep in government. Indeed, schools’ budget tightening started in the last parliament.

Any additional money must come from somewhere. Trade-offs need to be made, which is the job of government, but any solution must be practical and not open ended.

I am concerned this petition does not meet that criteria. I am even more concerned that measures asked for in this petition do not accurately represent the funding issues, despite our common aim to keep teacher/pupil ratios as low as possible and to provide outstanding education to our Special Education Needs (SEN) students.

It implies that any so-called “overspend” is caused primarily by Achieving for Children (AfC), independent from the needs of the children. This not the case. Levels of demand and the cost of SEN provision have grown rapidly in recent years, for a combination of reasons, outstripping growth in overall student numbers. To be sure, cost reduction has been made more difficult by the long-term under-investment in our SEN infrastructure over many years, which we have been correcting. But growth is the underlying driver. We have a responsibility and are committed to providing excellent education for all our students, and therefore fair decisions have to be made about the distribution of spending.

We have and will continue to listen to the concerns of our parents about the funding of their children's schools, and we share that priority. Residents have our firm commitment that we will continue to engage proactively with the Government to secure the best outcome for Richmond schools.

Councillor Paul Hodgins, Strategic Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Schools

24 people have signed this petition.