Extract from Budget debate: National Education Union - Mar 16
Tuesday, 17 March 2020 08:47
Peter Grant (Glenrothes) (SNP):...The Government will want to make
a big noise about the new capital spending they announced—as I
said, we will see when it actually happens—but we need to remember
the very low baseline they are starting from. The National
Education Union has pointed out that, in England, 3,731
schools need immediate repair and a further 9,972 will need
significant work within two years at most, but the Treasury figures
in the Red Book show that the Department...Request free trial
(Glenrothes) (SNP):...The
Government will want to make a big noise about the new capital
spending they announced—as I said, we will see when it actually
happens—but we need to remember the very low baseline they are
starting from. The National Education Union has
pointed out that, in England, 3,731 schools need immediate repair
and a further 9,972 will need significant work within two years at
most, but the Treasury figures in the Red Book show that the
Department for Education’s capital budget next year will be £100
million less than it is this year. How is that going to help? In
contrast, the Scottish Government have replaced or substantially
upgraded 928 schools since the Scottish National party came to
power, and I am delighted that two thirds of all pupils attending
secondary school in my constituency do so in schools that are less
than seven years old. In Scotland, teacher numbers have increased
for the fourth year in a
row—[Interruption.] I
hear muttering from the usual suspects on the Tory Benches. In
Scotland, there are 7,485 teachers per 100,000 pupils; in England,
the equivalent figure is 5,545...
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