Harlow Labour fear school budgets face further cuts under the Tories
News / Fri 27th Apr 2018 am30 06:55am
Harlow Labour confirms fears that schools’ budgets are set to be slashed under the Tories
HARLOW Labour today (Thursday) confirmed parents’ fears that school budgets are set to be slashed by the Conservative government.
Budget projections secured from Passmores Academy by Labour Councillor Mark Ingall (through a Freedom of Information request), show that by 2020, it will be facing a reduction in funding in real terms of £845,190. This will equate to £624 per pupil.
Councillor Ingall said; “These figures, which I have seen today, are deeply worrying not just for Passmores, but for every school in Harlow.
“Prior to the 2017 general election, our Tory MP Robert Halfon along with Tory Councillor Mike Hardware both vehemently denied that schools were facing budget cuts when we challenged them to be honest about their government’s plans.
“And yet here in black and white we have the school’s own accounts which show that while the School Budget Share will increase slightly, when you take into account other revenue streams being reduced or cut completely, and additional costs due to increased student numbers and pension and national insurance contributions, the cuts are massive.
“What is even more astonishing is that as a Governor of Passmores, Councillor Hardware would have been privy to this budget information and known of the implications for the school.
“And if this is the case for Passmores, then it’s difficult to believe that every other school in Harlow will not face similar or even worse cuts.
“As a secondary school teacher myself, I have no hesitation in describing this as a tragedy for school children across the town. It will mean bigger classes, no new resources for the new specification GCSEs, more sharing of old textbooks, poorer support available for children with additional needs, fewer well trained and experienced staff and an end to the enrichment activities that helped engage and enthuse students.
“Our children deserve better”.
Harlow Common Councillor, Maggie Hulcoop said today; “Many of the young residents in my ward attend Passmores or will do so in the next few years and I am sure their parents will be deeply concerned about the effect these cuts will have on their education and future prospects.
“Our Labour controlled Council has worked hard to bring investment to Harlow in the form of Public Health England and the new enterprise zone. This in turn will lead to hundreds of jobs for skilled workers and business opportunities.
“If we are not equipping our young people with the education they will need to take advantage of these opportunities, we are failing them.
“Or more correctly, the Tories are failing them.”
mehardware
2018-04-27 09:25:57
More emotive rhetoric from Labour designed to alarm Harlow residents. Not quite sure why this is news or why Labour needed to issue a Freedom of Information request, these figures are in the public domain and have been for some time. As a school teacher, Cllr Ingall knows full well that these are projections based on current information and funding arrangements - as in recent years, these change frequently, the figures are not likely to be the actual outcome. For this very reason, the headteacher/governors are not overly concerned by these projections. It seems Labour is clutching at any straw in the run up to next week's local elections. Just to correct you Cllr Ingall, I am a former governor of Passmores, now on the Members Board overseeing three, soon to be five schools in Harlow. Passmores is close to my heart as my son will be attending Passmores in a few years time.
MickyB77
2018-04-27 11:45:29
Absolutely. Concise,correct and wholly truthful. Not like some who comment here.
m ingall
2018-04-27 13:03:24
Fact 1 Both Councillor Hardware and Halfon claimed there were no school cuts prior to the 2017 election. Fact 2 The overall school budget available to spend on kids for Passmores has fallen in real terms year on year since 2015 and will continue to do so until at least 2020. Fact 3 Schools know their income and expenditure up until 2020 and for Passmores that means a £624 cut in per pupil funding, a total of £845,190 real terms reduction for the school. Fact 4 Every Harlow School is in the same boat, cutting staff, resources and opportunities for their pupils. Not Rhetoric Mike, cold hard facts, facts provided by the school itself, facts that you denied, facts that will have a devastating impact on the school children of Harlow. Harlow's children deserve better Vote Labour on May 3rd
MickyB77
2018-04-27 15:32:29
Have the budgets been cut yet ? I think not. More leftist propaganda for the benefit of a local election. These people, momentum and the REDS, must take the general public for fools, because m ingall certainly seems to.
JerryFromQueens
2018-04-27 15:36:09
"Emotive rhetoric"? That statement tells you all you need to know about the Nasty Party. Dismissing real problems affecting real people with a swipe of the hand. People should remember that phrase as they go to the polls on May 3rd, and remember that the Conservative Party are incapable of caring for those in real need. They simply do not have the capacity to understand. Can't afford £25k a plate for one of their fundraisers? Not in the 1%? Not a member of the backward DUP? Then good luck. This discredited excuse of a government don't care a jot about you. They've always been the party of a select few, and have picked on the poor, children and disabled with a zeal that makes you think they enjoy it. Let's have something better. Anything would be better than the Tories. Vote Labour on May 3rd. This is where it begins.
m ingall
2018-04-27 17:21:06
To answer your question Micky, "have the budgets been cut yet?" Yes they have. The figures I obtained from Passmores, quoted in this article showed income and expenditure from 2015 until 2020. Every year showed a reduction in per pupil funding. It being 2018 most of those cuts have in fact happened, and because schools need to plan ahead the coming cuts will have to be implemented. So answer this question Mickey, do you think Passmores school, recognised nationally for the good work they do for the children of Harlow will be better or worse able to educate the children of this town, given the loss in real terms funding of nearly a million pounds? The Tory way is austerity cuts for the poor, the disabled and children at the same time as huge tax cuts for millionaires and corporations.
ChrisVince
2018-04-27 17:22:21
The key figure is budget per pupil which has gone down every year since 2015 according to the data. Not scaremongering but sadly fact. I’m not going to get into name calling but I can only hope the loss of their majority, partly due to this very issue, might make the government start to take the issue of school cuts seriously rather than deny they are happening.
Brett Hawksbee
2018-04-27 18:06:36
MickyB77 is either part of the 1%, or he's a sheep licking the farmer's boots as he's led to the slaughterhouse. Asinine comments like 'have the budgets been cut yet? I think not' serve simply to highlight his ignorance of the subject. (Not that he ever allows that to be an impediment to his rattling his chops incessantly.) Cllr (at present) Hardware knows full well that funding has, in real terms, been reduced every year for the past 8 years. He knows that this is projected to continue. We have in Passmores, and every other school, a situation where budgets are set, and business plans projecting forward are created, in absolute ignorance of what the actual income for the period is going to be. The constant pressure of cuts is UNSUSTAINABLE. It is ludicrous. We have the continued 'failing' schools,being put in special measures and forced into adopting Academy status, while 45% of Academies are 'significantly under-performing'. We have school governors who's political ideology is blinding them to the systemic failures in education, and the causes thereof. Our children are our greatest resource. They hold the key to the future prosperity of the UK. Leaking, poorly equipped classrooms, and wholesale underfunding offers a mirror to how this government values our young people, and it will not be lost on them.
tony edwards
2018-04-27 19:03:25
Well done Mark Ingall for getting the information about the cuts to the Passmores Academy budget. If only the other Harlow schools could be open with parents, students and the public about the financial difficulties they are facing. If readers are interested see this link - https://schoolcuts.org.uk/#!/schools Toddbrook Labour Candidate
JerryFromQueens
2018-04-27 19:12:19
School cuts are another example of the ideological zealotry of the Conservative Party, with the vile spectacle of their high command using the pupils as human shields to get at their real enemy: the unions. Indeed, Michael Gove once described the teaching unions and anyone who dared oppose his backward and divisive education policies as "the blob", literally taking away their humanity in the process. What kind of party plays roulette with the very future of a country like this? Vote Labour on Thursday May 3rd to kick back against this shambolic, disjointed embarrassment of a so-called government.
MickyB77
2018-04-28 06:48:48
Same old aggressive and bullying attacks on anybody who queries what the REDS are up to. MOMENTUM activist sacked from the party for attacking and bullying Jewish members. This group of spiteful hard line lefties, who, sacrifice the quality of education for our children, for political gain. At any public meeting, who disrupts the procedure, hard line LEFTIES. Oppose them, and violence ensues. This is what the left seem to prefer, shout everybody down and they think that they win the argument. You wont bully me ! VOTE LABOUR of MOMENTUM at your PERIL. Remember, they almost sent the country skint! Who sold our GOLD reserves at under value ? Would that be Mr BROWN ? Who spent the Treasury almost ruining the country ? Mr BROWN ? Who introduced PFI ? BLIAR and BROWN. Whose played roulette then with our Nations future ?
Eugenie Harvey
2018-04-28 07:51:00
With respect to Cllr Hardware and MickyB77, Robert Halfon is sufficiently concerned about the porblem of cuts to school school funding that he announced a cross party inquiry into the issue this week.
JerryFromQueens
2018-04-28 11:50:39
I reckon someone on here has a board of words with REDS, MOMENTUM and AT YOUR PERIL on them and sticks a pin in every time he comments just to, y'know, mix it up a bit. It's a bit like a broken record, Theresa and The Tory Group's Greatest Misses, including all your favourites like 'Strong and Stable', 'Brexit Means Brexit' and 'The Windrush Debacle (Amber Rudderless Remix)'.
MickyB77
2018-04-28 16:41:42
E H If, as I lightly mentioned, our finances had been left in good order,cuts would never have had to have been made. It's as plain as the nose on your face. The previous labour administration had left the country virtually bankrupt. The cuts that your lot keep bleating about, would never have been made, if we were left solvent. The legacy of North Sea Oil, what in heavens name became of that ? LABOUR breed debt. No argument. Fact.
m ingall
2018-04-29 09:43:46
The Tories inherited a triple A rated economy that was amongst the fastest growing in Europe, that after a world wide banking disaster caused by inadequate banking regulations, regulations that the Tories wanted to loosen further. Since then we have gone from the fastest growing economy in Europe to the slowest, we have lost the triple A credit rating and the total amount of government debt has doubled. These school cuts are projected until 2020, by which time the Tories will have been in power for a decade. Micky, how many decades should the Tories need before you accept any responsibility for the current position? Or do you need centuries? Austerity has failed, unless you are one of the super rich or a corporation that has benefitted from huge tax cuts. Labour offers hope for a fairer future, where school kids learn in a decent environment, with well trained teachers and up to date books and resources. I believe that's the future Harlow voters want.
MickyB77
2018-04-29 14:09:32
How long did it take for the REDS to spend all the money? Labour were more than happy to be dumped out of Parliament, knowing the monstrous debts they'd accrued would take years to recoup. PFI ring a bell does it?
MickyB77
2018-04-30 11:26:47
I seem to recall that it was Bliar who inherited a massive surplus in the accounts. Still at a distance from the truth. VOTE LABOUR at your PERIL No difference between fact and fiction where they're concerned. Where did the money from North Sea oil go?
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