Schools in Chippenham face cuts of £1.9 million next year

Chippenham Liberal Democrats are calling on the Chancellor to protect education spending, as shocking new figures show that schools in the area face cuts in their spending power of £1.9 million next year.

Liberal Democrats in Chippenham have called on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt not to make children and young people pay for the Conservatives' botched Budget by cutting school and college funding further during next week's Autumn Statement.

The figures, published this week by the 'School Cuts' campaign run by teaching unions, reveal that schools in the Chippenham constituency will have £141 less to spend per pupil next year (2023/24) compared to this year (2022/23).

In total, 29 out of 37 schools in the Chippenham area will see a reduction in their spending power next year compared to this year.

The figures estimate the true spending power that schools have after increases in teacher salaries, pensions, tax and non-staff costs have all been taken into account. It comes after the Government instructed council-run schools to give teachers a much-deserved pay rise of between 5% and 8.9% this year, but gave schools no extra money to pay for it, meaning that they had to make cuts elsewhere.

Overall, nine in ten schools across England will have less spending power next year compared to this year. More than two in three schools in England will have a lower spending power next year than in 2015.

Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Chippenham, Sarah Gibson said:

"Under this Government, schools must choose between teaching children or heating classrooms. Headteachers are warning that they will have to cut teaching assistants, mental health support and school clubs in order to make ends meet.

"Liberal Democrats know that a fair deal for Wiltshire means investing in our children's futures. Parents and teachers will be rightly angry if the Chancellor announces more cuts to schools and colleges next week.

"Investment in quality education isn't cheap, nor should it be. We should prioritise public money to ensure that our children get the best possible start to life with first-rate teaching."

Note:

Data taken from the https://schoolcuts.org.uk/ website, maintained by the National Education Union, which was updated with figures for 2023/24 today (8 November). An explanation of their methodology is available on their website.