Minister admits he got 16+ education budget wrong

Anne Main has responded to a letter from the Minister for Schools, Jim Knight MP, admitting that his department got their budgeting wrong.

Anne Main, MP for St Albans, has responded to a letter from the Minister for Schools, Jim Knight MP, admitting that his department got their budgeting wrong, resulting in the uniform 3.71% reductions in funding for post-16 education which were imposed at the beginning of this month.

In his letter to Anne, the Minister said:

"Colleges and schools have done an outstanding job of recruiting and encouraging young people to stay in education or training until they are 18 and are to be congratulated for this. We are now seeing an even greater surge in demand for places than we have budgeted for.

Schools with sixth forms received two letters last month from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) on 16-18 funding allocations for 2009/10. The initial letter on 2nd March updated schools in line with their expected learner numbers for September 2009. Unfortunately...that letter incorrectly said that these were final allocations, and it has apologised for any confusion and concern this has subsequently caused."

Anne said:

"I wrote to the Minister because our schools have had the financial rug pulled from under their feet and I hoped he would recognise this and do something about it. This feeble answer from the Schools Minister just blames the Learning and Skills Council, the Government quango charged with implementing his decisions. The Minister offered no rescue plan for our schools, except a pledge to write to them by the end of the month, which I hope is not just a futile PR exercise

This answer, admitting that budgets have had to be redrawn due to lack of 'currently available resources', speaks volumes. The cupboard is bare, and the Government is going back on its word and making huge cuts. The Minister admits that the Government is at the heart of this problem by encouraging far more people to stay on than they had budgeted for. We want our young people to be educated and the Government should honour its promise to make education, and logically the funding for that education a realistic and deliverable project, not an unfunded piece of hype.

The Minister just pats himself on the back for increases in participation, whilst removing the funds needed to pay to teach those extra students. So much for this Government's pledge of 'education, education, education'."

BACKGROUND

Full text of letter from Minister for Schools, the Rt Hon Jim Knight MP

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