School budget cuts could have a negative impact on the economy, councils say

A joint letter by London Councils and Core Cities UK has urged the government to invest £335 million into education to avoid cuts.

The letter, which was addressed to the education secretary, Justine Greening, stated that tight school budgets could damage the UK economy.

The £335 million investment would enable the new funding formula to be introduced without any funding cuts to any schools in the country, the councils say.

The new funding formula was announced in December, which was put forward to end postcode lottery in school funding, as described by Greening.

She claimed that the current system in place was not fair and was outdated.

The new formula proposal, which is expected to be rolled out in 2018, states that over 10,000 schools will expect to gain funding. Also, according to Greening, no school will have a reduction in money of more than 1.5 per cent per pupil, each year.

But, research carried out by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) showed that primary schools would lose £339 per pupil on average and secondary schools will lose out on £477.

Cllr Judith Blake, leader of Core Cities UK commented: “Together London councils and the Core Cities represent areas that drive 50 per cent of the UK economy, which is why we are urging the government to recognise that reducing funding for our schools will deal a huge blow to growth and productivity.”