MP challenges Treasury ministers to tackle funding crisis for Cumbria’s schools

Cumbrian MP Tim Farron has urged the Chancellor to provide funding for local schools which are being forced to make cuts this year.

The Department for Education recently recommended a 2.8% pay rise for teaching staff in September, but said that the increase would have to come from schools’ existing budgets rather than additional funding from central government.

The Department for Education also said that headteachers would have to make ‘efficiencies’ if they couldn’t afford the pay increases for their staff.

Speaking during Treasury Questions in the House of Commons earlier this week, Tim said: “Schools in Westmorland have been told that they will have to meet the costs of teacher pay rises next year, at least in part, from existing funds and by making efficiencies. 

“Does the Chancellor not understand that all that is available to schools in my constituency is sacking teachers and merging classes? Will she instead commit to fully funding the teachers’ pay rise and other cost increases, so that our schools can do the job that they are meant to do?

“The honourable gentleman knows that in order for us to restore public finances and put them on a firm foundation, departmental settlements have to reflect the cost of the civil servants they employ; that is how the Departments are working. 

“As the Chancellor has previously confirmed, the Department for Education has received money to cover the cost of running the education system, and the details will be provided to schools in the normal way in due course.”