• 31 schools in Tower Hamlets have had budgets cut in real-terms, despite Government promise that every school would see an increase in funding.
• Mayor of Tower Hamlets John Biggs has prioritised investment in education, with £97m earmarked for new secondary schools and £4.9m for Early Years in his latest budget plans.
• Mayor’s budget plans aim to make Tower Hamlets a cleaner, safer, fairer place to live.

New analysis from the National Education Union (NEU) of schools funding allocations show the Government has broken its promise that there would be “a cash increase for every school in every region” – with 31 schools in Tower Hamlets alone having seen their funding cut in 2018/19.

These schools suffered a real-terms cut to their funding, despite school costs increasing dramatically. Some schools in Tower Hamlets have had their funding cut by over £200,000 – having a real impact on school budgets.

A local campaign led by the School Cuts alliance of education unions (including the National Education Union, NAHT, GMB, UNISON, Unite and ASCL), local schools, Mayor John Biggs, Labour councillors and local MPs Rushanara Ali and Jim Fitzpatrick have been campaigning against the cuts to school funding, and have repeatedly warned that schools across England, which have already seen cuts of £2.8bn since 2015, will see their funding slashed even further as the Government’s new National Funding Formula (NFF) starts to bite. The NFF takes funding out of schools in some of the poorest areas, including Tower Hamlets, and redistributes it to other areas.

The NFF will mean that schools in Tower Hamlets will face a net loss of over £24m in the next decade.

The Mayor of Tower Hamlets John Biggs has hit back at the Government’s cuts, and announced capital investment worth £97m in new secondary schools, as well as £4.9m investment in Early Years for our youngest residents and additional support for our schools. These form part of the Mayor’s latest budget proposals to make Tower Hamlets a cleaner, safer, fairer place to live.

Mayor of Tower Hamlets John Biggs said: “My latest budget delivers our Labour manifesto with new policies to make Tower Hamlets a cleaner, safer, fairer place to live. As part of this, we’re prioritising investment in our children and young people, including money for new schools and extra money for early years.

“The Tory Government has consistently cut and underfunded our public services, and like with so many other services it falls to councils to defend local people against the worst of their austerity programme and give our children and schools a much needed boost.”

Councillor Danny Hassell, Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Young People, said: “The Tory Government promised that every single school would see a cash increase in their budgets, but just as we expected they have broken their promise. 31 schools in Tower Hamlets have seen their budgets fall in real terms this year and it’s only going to get tougher for our schools as the new funding formula hits.

“The announcement of the small amount of additional funding from the Government for children with special needs and disabilities falls far short of the funding that is required, both nationally and locally. It offers only a fraction of the current level of shortfall on the high needs funding.  In addition, we are forecasting additional pressures with the rising number of children with special needs and the complexity of this need.  We support calls for the Government to give sufficient funding for SEND and to link the High Needs Funding block to the numbers of pupils.”

Notes:

• Prime Minister at PMQs, 23 May 2018:

“On school funding, as the hon. Gentleman knows, the new national funding formula is providing for a cash increase for every school in every region, as well as protected funding for those with additional needs, but it is important that the Department for Education is helping to bear down on costs that schools are experiencing.”

• Full details of schools in Tower Hamlets that have seen their funding allocations cut:

• The figures above come from the NEU, who have compared the Schools Block funding allocations for 2017/18and 2018/19.
• Mayor Biggs’ full budget plans are available here: https://democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/documents/b29526/Budget%20Pack%2009th-Jan-2019%2017.30%20Cabinet.pdf?T=9
• The investment in new schools is based on West ferry Secondary School (£45m) and London Dock Expansion (£52m).