DfE delusional about school budget cuts say MPs

[noblegiraffe]

Now even MPs are telling the DfE that their proposed school funding cuts are completely unworkable and will affect education standards. A cross-party report is extremely critical and says the DfE need to start listening to heads about the reality of funding in schools and that their plans are dangerous.

The DfE keep insisting that school spending is at an all-time high.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-39419136

The DfE keep insisting that school spending is at an all-time high.

Well they would, wouldn't they? Just like Jeremy Hunt says for the NHS, which is my own line of work. Except the argument falls on its a*se when we consider the increase in demand, which cuts spend / head right down.

Looking forward to downloading the PAC report later. Go Meg Hillier! (Although I understand that Hackney comes out rather well in the new funding formula).

School spending is apparently at an all time high - because the number of pupils is at an all time high! The spending per pupil is not at an all time high - in real terms.

Bloody hell this blog lays out just how incompetent the DfE have been in recent years. It's appalling:

www.prospect.org.uk/blog/index/2017/March/1/Education-policy-failures-should-be-easy-targets-opponents

"The next day, the National Audit Office returned to the fray with its report Capital funding for schools. This found that the cost of the government’s free schools policy had ballooned. In 2010, it had been predicted to cost £900m to open 315 schools by 2015. By March 2015, the actual cost – to open 305 schools – had doubled to £1.8bn."

"Other staggering NAO revelations included that the DfE had bought 19 free school sites, at a cost of £200m, in areas where none had yet been approved to open; that the department had paid 60% more than market value for 20 sites; and that it had spent more than £30m on individual site costs for four schools."

yet we are told that there isn't the money to fund education properly.

But why aren't all the other political parties making as much capital out of this as possible?

I think Jeremy Corbyn went on about it during PMQ on Wednesday, which was kind of overshadowed by it being Article 50 day.

I also saw on twitter recently the Times being criticised for using Tim Farron as a go-to for 'opposition' quotes instead of Labour. They said that they email both Labour and the Lib Dems for responses to questions. Lib Dems respond within half an hour, Labour at the end of the day, past the article deadline.

The statements about school spending being at an all time high and MPs talking about funding cuts are not as inconsistent as they seem. School spending is at an all time high as a headline figure. However, what the MPs are talking about is that the government's published spending plans for the next few years mean that, although overall spending will rise, the spend per pupil will fall in real terms. Also the introduction of the new funding formula will mean that some schools will see their funding fall in cash terms by up to 3%.

It is exceptionally disingenuous to respond that school funding is at a high in response to concerns about cuts.

The DfE have form for this. When people ask about teacher recruitment/retention issues they say that the number of teachers is at a high as well. They don't mention high pupil numbers or that they've failed to meet their recruitment targets for years or that 1 in 10 teachers quit last year.

The DfE are head-in-the-sand bullshitters.

The DfE are head-in-the-sand bullshitters.

I get the impression that nearly all Govt departments answer to that description. Where they can, they blame the EU, where they can't, it's everyone else's fault.

It makes me so angry that they aren't properly challenged on their bullshit. Neither the media nor the official opposition are pulling them up properly.

Locally, although I wasn't able to go, there was a meeting about the cuts in education. So the opposition is forming and it won't go away in a hurry.

But why aren't all the other political parties making as much capital out of this as possible?

I think Jeremy Corbyn went on about it during PMQ on Wednesday

The problem is, whenever JC opens his mouth the rest of the world switches off. He's go all the charisma of a wet fart.