The Coalition Government said it would protect funding for schools.
Schools in my authority are (gu-)estimating that a secondary school will be typically about £300 000 worse off in its 2011-12 financial year compared to its 2010-11 financial year. They can't know for sure how much worse off they will be because the budget lines are so confusing and dates for final announcement of some funding levels are so late that, just two weeks before the new financial year, they are still somewhat in the dark.
The Coalition Government says it needs to reduce the budget deficit.
But so far as I can see this is a smokescreen for an ideologically based cutting of funding for public services, witnessed, for example, by the campaigning against those receiving state benefits that occurred at points last year. And the idea that "front line services will be protected" is just not true.
So, there is an alternative. Being honest.
1 comment:
It is wonderful how we can afford to get involved in wars abroad when we are being told services at home must be cut. Honouring prior commitments may be one thing but getting into new entanglements is surely quite another.
Post a Comment