Commenting on the Chancellor’s
statement, Dr Mary
Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education
Union,
said:
“Today’s budget demonstrates the scale
of this government’s failure to grow the economy. It
presages a terrible period of austerity where household
disposable income per person will be the biggest on record,
taking incomes down to 2013 levels. Teachers know what this
means – more children coming to school hungry, cold and unable to
learn. It is they who will pay the price of and Kwasi Kwarteng’s disastrous budget which created a
£30 billion fiscal black hole – which will be filled by
inflicting misery and want on children, young people and their
families.
“The government’s announced increase
in school funding is clearly a result of both the relaunch last
week of the School Cuts campaign with NAHT, ASCL and
Parentkind, and of the ballots for
fully-funded inflation-proof pay
rises.
“Any additional funding for our
schools will meet some of their desperate need. However, the
money announced by the Chancellor will not be sufficient to
prevent schools from having to make cuts. It will still result in
schools having less funding than in 2015. Public services have
been cut to the bone. For schools and colleges, there are no more
efficiency savings to make. We will study closely today's
commitment on education funding and revise the School Cuts site
accordingly, so that parents can judge for themselves. But there
is no doubt that challenges will
remain. Despite
some progress this increase is still below inflation forecast by
the OBR.
"Schools are more than buildings and
materials. Teachers and support staff are also homeowners,
renters, consumers and parents. The impact of rising costs will
be felt by all, and it is simply not sustainable for them to
continue with real-terms pay cuts. Teacher pay had
already fallen by 20% in real terms between 2010 and 2021, even
before the Government's attempt to impose another huge
real-terms pay cut against inflation in 2022. Support
staff pay has fallen by 27% over the same period. The latest
teacher pay deal offered by Government is well below inflation.
The much-vaunted increases to teacher starting pay are also well
below inflation.
"If benefits and pensions are both to
rise in line with inflation, then the same should also be true
for pay. Today's announcement on additional money for schools and
colleges could go towards funding a pay rise, but it would still
not be enough. Yesterday, the Government issued its remit letter
to the School Teachers' Review Body advocating a 2% pay
rise for 2023/24, which would represent yet another
real-terms cut. This is surely a mixed message that will do
nothing to resolve the longstanding recruitment and retention
crisis in the profession, and will not avert the pay strike
on which our members are currently balloting. The case for a
fully funded, above inflation pay rise remains.
" speaks of wanting to continue
to raise standards in schools, but his position on food poverty
will deter this. Good nutrition and regular meals are what makes
the difference for many disadvantaged pupils. It ensures they can
fully engage in learning and thrive at school. The Government
could have used this moment to help the millions of children
facing food poverty by widening the eligibility of free school
meals but are apparently happy to see children go hungry whilst
at school.
"We welcome plans for skills reform
and look forward to discussing them with Government at the
earliest opportunity. The current education secretary is a
passionate advocate of skills, which is welcome too, but we will
need to see how these plans develop and whether they are properly
supported and funded.
“As a society, we need to invest in
our young people and those who educate them if we are to have a
chance of a secure future for our
children.”
