Hemel Hempstead MP Mike Penning led a debate, which attracted an unusually large number of MPs, calling on the Government to restore promised funding for school sixth-forms.
Local schools received their “final” 2009-10 funding allocation for sixth-forms on 2nd March this year, only to have it significantly reduced on 27th March due to a “miscalculation”. This left many schools in a difficult position having made commitments that they could no longer fund.
Mike told MPs:
“In Hertfordshire, 13 schools had their funding cut by up to £25,000, 33 schools had their cut by between £25,000 and £50,000, 24 schools by between £50,000 and £100,000 and five had their budgets cut by over £100,000.
“These are huge figures when you’re trying to set the funding for the following year. One of these schools, acting in good faith, had instructed building works to take place, one of the schools in my constituency had taken on two members of staff. They were somewhat shocked.”
Some schools are still in a position of not having had their budgets clarified – this is over one month into the financial year.
Mike told MPs:
“One local head told me ‘What am I going to do? It is not legal to be operating within this framework. I have a legal responsibility to my pupils and a legal responsibility under the Act to make sure that the funds are available.’”
On leaving the chamber Mike said:
“This is an important issue which affects our children’s education. The Government should have held a debate on this subject instead of leaving it to me to call one – there is clearly strong feeling on the issue when you look at the number of backbench MPs who turned up for the debate.
“The level of incompetence demonstrated by this is unbelievable. We have to ensure that mistakes made this year are not repeated in the future – that is why MPs need to be able to scrutinise and debate the issue.
“I welcome the fact that some schools have now received money to fill the funding gap – but there are still schools who have heard nothing. We need to get this matter sorted out as quickly as possible.”
... FULL TEXT FROM HANSARD Mike Penning (Hemel Hempstead) (Con): I reiterate your comments, Mr. Hancock, about the insult to the House and those hon. Members who have turned up for this important debate. It is also an insult to my constituents and the children of this country, who have been so badly affected by the funding fiasco. It is a shame that the Minister was not here earlier to hear your comments.
The funding of sixth forms and further education colleges is very important for my constituents, as it is for people throughout the country. The fiasco of the past two and a half months—at least—has caused great anxiety in colleges, and among headmasters, pupils and parents. It has been described by headmasters as “incompetent and dishonest” and I am desperately concerned about the fact that, with the Learning and Skills Council in its dying throes, its chief executive still does not seem to understand the seriousness of the situation. The chief executive said in a recent interview for The Daily Telegraph that the Learning and Skills Council is a fascinating place to work. It may be interesting, but I wish, for the sake of the pupils, parents and headmasters in my constituency, that he was doing a bit more work, so that the current situation had not occurred. Frankly, he should be a little more contrite about how what has happened has affected pupils.
I want to give a brief resumé of what has happened in Hertfordshire. On 2 March schools in my constituency were told their final allocation of funding for 2009-10. That was the funding that they were to set their budgets by for the end of March, which they could take up to ensure that they had suitable building work done, suitable facilities, and suitable staff in employment, and so that they knew exactly where they were. I have seen the letters that went out from the LSC about that funding. By the last week in March there was a clear indication of a problem throughout the country, and particularly in Hertfordshire. By 27 March schools in Hertfordshire had had their funding slashed. Thirteen schools had had their funding cut by up to £25,000; 33 schools had had it cut by between £25,000 and £50,000; 24 schools had had it cut by between £50,000 and £100,000; and five schools had had it cut by more than £100,000. Those are huge figures, whether they are £25,000 or £100,000, when someone is trying to set funding for the following year, and achieve a legal budget—one that is not in deficit, because it is illegal for the governors of schools to set a deficit budget.
Many schools in my constituency, in good faith, gave instructions for building works. The refurbishment of a small classroom was one instance. One school took on two members of staff. The news was therefore something of a shock. We then saw the plethora of articles around the country claiming that everything would be okay, and telling us “We will try to sort this out.” Interestingly, different messages were coming from the LSC, which said it just did not have the funding. The Government eventually announced that they would fill the budget hole—the cut affecting 16 to 18-year-olds throughout the country, although I am making particular reference to the constituency of Hemel Hempstead. They said they would bring forward a further allocation of funds—some £210 million.
My question to the Minister is about the description of that as additional funding. Where did the funding from 2 March go? It was clearly there. If the LSC issued letters announcing that that was the funding for the year, how could the Government later say that it was additional and was filling a hole that was already there? Not one head teacher in my constituency has said that any money was made available additional to what they were promised on 2 March. The Government’s description of it as additional funding is disingenuous, suggesting that it is extra money, when it is not. It goes only part way towards the cut in sixth-form funding that had already been made. Interestingly enough, the shortfall is partly caused, it would seem, by the £65 million that was taken out of the further education budget and sent to the university student grant scheme. That might partly explain where some of the money comes from, but what has gone on has involved sheer incompetence.
We have heard in the past couple of days—I have raised the matter on the Floor of the House—that the money will be sorted out and will be coming. We are a month into this year’s budget. It is illegal not to have set the budget by 30 March. It is a legal requirement for the LSC that the funding should have been addressed by the end of March. Naturally enough, I phoned the schools in my constituency yesterday, knowing that the debate was to take place, and realising that it had been on the Order Paper for some days, to find out whether they had had the promise of the funding that they required. They were all promised that by the end of April—admittedly a month late—they would have their funding. To be fair, some of them have been given it, although it is not, I stress, extra funding. One has received the £25,000 that had been removed from its allocation, and another has been promised that it will have the money, although there is nothing in writing. Another school is concerned about funding of up to £90,000 and is still formally without any contact from the LSC or the Government about where the funding will come from. The headmaster yesterday said to me, “What am I going to do? It is not legal for me to be operating in this framework. I have a legal responsibility to my children, but I also have a legal responsibility under the Act, to make sure that I have the funds available for the pupils in my school.” Another headmaster said to me, “I will stop a capital project in another part of the school to fund this part of my school, because I will not allow a deficit budget. It would look terrible for my school.”
Through no fault of their own, wonderful schools in my constituency, which are doing excellent work for their pupils and the community, many of which have expanded and done well, with dramatically improving results, received letters saying formally that they contained the final allocation. What other word can one use for “final”, other than perhaps “terminal”, which might apply to the LSC and the Government?
I am serious about this: the schools have had the letters and they have moved forward. They set their budgets in good faith only to be told three weeks later that there had been a mistake, a miscalculation. Frankly, the Learning and Skills Council and the Government cannot seem to get the funding ready in time for 2009-10. Telling schools three weeks before the cut-off time how much they were getting and then, two days before legally required, informing them that the funding had been cut, shows a degree of incompetence that borders on the insane.
People want some destiny for their children. They want to know what is going on. They want to be able to pick the right school. For example, my daughter is doing the second year of her A-levels. She needed to know that she would have the facilities that were promised, that the school had set the curriculum and that the teachers would be available. We hear promise after promise from the Government—jam tomorrow—but the money is coming later. The schools still do not have a promise in writing that they will receive the funding that they deserve, and it is now a month after the legal requirement for the funding has passed.
I ask the Minister not to stand up like the Secretary of State did in the main Chamber and say, “You should have listened to the Budget.” I ask him please to listen to the heads and governors. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] Please listen to what is going on in the country. It is shameful that the Minister was not here to listen to the start of the debate. It is an indication to parents and headmasters of how the Government are likely to treat them in future. What guarantee is there that that will not happen next year or the year after? If things do not change, parents have the right to ask, “Are the Government fit for purpose? Are they capable of producing the education that children need and desire?”
It is an indication of how much the question matters for the whole country—certainly those who care—that so many of my colleagues are sitting next to me and behind me. I did not lobby anyone to attend this debate. I simply asked Mr. Speaker, after he made his comments in the Chamber, whether he would be minded to grant an Adjournment debate. I thought long and hard as to whether it should be a half-hour debate. I now believe that an hour and a half is too short. The Minister should allow a debate in Government time on the fiasco of funding further education. |
