Anne Main challenges Prime Minister over education cuts
29th April 2009
During Prime Minister's Questions earlier today, Anne Main challenged the Prime Minister over the fiasco which saw that schools facing a last-minute 3.71% cut in funding for post-16 education.
During Prime Minister's Questions earlier today, Anne Main, MP for St Albans, challenged the Prime Minister over the fiasco which saw that schools facing a last-minute 3.71% cut in funding for post-16 education at the beginning of the new financial year, despite previous assurances that funding was secure.
Anne asked:
"Will the Prime Minister accept responsibility for the months of chaos, uncertainty and confusion which surrounded schools in my constituency when post-16 education funding was removed at short notice?
To which the Prime Minister replied: "We are the party that is offering the guarantee of education to 18 for every young person; we are the party that is bringing in plans from this autumn that every teenager can have education as of right to 18; and we have announced in the Budget the money that will be made available to do so. It is a bit much for the Conservative party to complain about education funding when the first thing that the Conservatives would do is cut it as a result of their plans."
Upon leaving the chamber, Anne added:
"When the Government announced a last minute uniform cut of budgets for post-16 education at the end of last month, one head teacher in my constituency contacted me to say that their senior management team was contemplating resigning en masse as the only way to balance the budget.
The only justification the Government has given for this is that there was "an even greater surge in demand for places than the Government had budgeted for", and this is simply not good enough. The announcement left sixth forms locally battling to deliver Government targets to expand post-16 education whilst at the same time receiving much less money. I think someone needs to take responsibility for this debacle."
BACKGOUND:
Full text of letter from Minister for Schools, the Rt Hon Jim Knight MP (9th April)
Dear Anne,
Thank you for your letter of 2nd April to Ed Balls MP, on behalf of two schools in your constituency about post-16 participation and funding.
We are already planning record investment of over
