Cuts will see schools lose £438 per pupil

Education Secretary Justine Greening visits Oasis Academy, Limeside

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GOVERNMENT cuts to education will leave Oldham schools significantly worse off by 2020, an Oldham MP has said.

Jim McMahon, MP for Oldham West and Royton, has reacted with disbelief and anger to cuts on key, local services.

Research, led by the National Union of Teachers, says 98 per cent of schools across England will see a real-terms drop in income per pupil, starting in 2018.

The government is due to start a new school spending plan in an attempt to address what it sees as "unfair" and "inconsistent" funding across different regions.

The six unions - the National Union of Teachers, Association of Teachers and Lecturers, National Association of Head Teachers, Unison, Unite and GMB - say this amounts to an average loss of £339 for every primary pupil and £477 for every secondary pupil.

By 2020 pupils in Oldham West and Royton will have £397 a year less being spent on their education. This is higher than the average loss per primary school pupil elsewhere.

In Oldham overall, the average amount that would be lost for every pupil would be £438 by 2020 and it is estimated there will be 450 fewer teachers due to cuts.

Mr McMahon said: "Far from making education funding fairer, this new formula will leave schools in Oldham West and Royton worse off.

"This means that schools will have less money to spend on their pupils', our children's, education.

"How is it possible for a funding arrangement to be fairer and more consistent, when it leaves 98 per cent of schools in England worse off?

"We know the importance of education in offering young people a positive future, equipped and ready for the world of work.

"Failing to invest in young people will leave Britain and Oldham in particular behind.

"There are a growing number of MPs from all parties who are increasingly against these cuts to our schools. I'll be representing children and families in Oldham by holding ministers to account for this ill-thought-out policy."

In October Education Secretary Justine Greening announced that Oldham would be one of six "opportunity areas" in England to benefit from a £60 million scheme to promote social mobility.

The scheme will be trialled in five other areas initially - Blackpool, Derby, Norwich, Scarborough and West Somerset - with a further four areas to be announced in the coming months.

It is not clear yet exactly how much of the £60 million share Oldham will receive but each area, she said, will receive funding and help tailored for it.

In December, however, the National Audit Office found that schools will have to make £3 billion worth of savings by 2019/20.

The report released by Whitehall's spending watchdog said that although average per-pupil funding will rise, it actually amounts to a real-terms reduction of eight per cent once inflation is taken into account.

Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner, who is MP for Ashton and Failsworth, added: "Cuts on this scale for schools in Failsworth and throughout Oldham will mean there is a real risk of staff redundancies, because staffing is the biggest cost for most of our schools.

"That will directly damage the quality of education for our children and mean bigger class sizes and less individual attention for pupils."