Voice comment on spending review

20 October 2010

Voice: the union for education professionals has commented on today's Comprehensive Spending Review.

General secretary Philip Parkin said: "In some ways, schools education has 'got off lightly' compared with other departments and there will be some welcome investment. The pupil premium is a positive step forward, especially with the extension of free pre-school education to some disadvantaged two-year-olds.

"Head teachers will, I'm sure, welcome the removal of ring-fencing, giving them greater freedom on how to spend their budgets, although difficult decisions will have to be made.

"Although the schools budget will increase in real terms in each year of the spending review period, 'economies in other areas' mean that there will be a total real reduction in the Department for Education's resource spending of 3% by 2014-15 and capital spending will be reduced by 60% in real terms by 2014-15. This will inevitably have an impact on services as will the level of local authority allocations for schools and early years provision when they emerge.

"The secretary of state Michael Gove has admitted that: 'The size of the deficit means we have had to make tough decisions. There will be many savings across the department'.

"The Education Maintenance Allowance, which pays 16-18 year olds to remain in education, will be axed and further and higher education will be hit hard, with the higher education budget slashed and the further education budget cut by 25%. We have concerns that this may be short-sighted when we need more highly skilled employees to bring the country out of recession. Adult learners will have to pay more and graduates face a huge debt burden.

"The Chancellor is like a banana republic dictator – dispensing largesse with one hand while ordering beatings and mutilations with the other.

"Although schools may be spared the mass redundancies we had feared, many dedicated public servants, especially in further and higher education, will be made to pay for the folly, incompetence and greed of politicians and the City.

"Those who work in the public and private sectors find it difficult to understand why they should pay the price for the mistakes and greed of the banking sector, which they, as taxpayers, bailed out with vast sums of public money, leaving a huge hole in the nation's finances, while the bankers continue to pay themselves enormous salaries and bonuses without paying back what they owe to the rest of us.

"Economic recovery and the long-term prosperity of the country may well be damaged by the cuts to education and training, by cancelled contracts with the private sector, by the rise in unemployment, by increased pension contributions and by the reduction in individual spending."

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