They are planning to shortchange parents and children.
The Government has increased the Education SSA for Bradford by 6.1%. Only 4.5% is being passed on to schools, with an even lower increase in spending on other education services. So money being given for education is being siphoned off for other purposes like street cleaning and keeping the Council Tax rise down below that in other places.
This is scarcely credible when Bradford is at the bottom of education league tables and has been castigated by OFSTED and the Government for already underspending on education compared with other authorities.
How can teachers and other staff raise standards when there aren’t enough of them and they don’t have the resources to do the job?
Primary schools face having to make cuts, because the 3.4% increase in their budgets will not be enough to meet pay awards and other inflation in their costs. Secondary and Special schools will also get rises in funding below the levels intended by the Government.
Politicians should be forced to account for a decision as significant as this. The actual date for setting the Council’s budget is 26th February. Conservative Councillors need to know that teachers and parents regard these proposals as a betrayal of the children of Bradford. The Conservatives are a minority administration, so they need the support of the Liberal Democrats and/or Labour for anything they do, so these parties also need lobbying.
The contact details of Councillors are all on the Council Website.
The leaders of each political group can be emailed as follows:
Conservative Group: margaret.eaton@bradford.gov.uk
Labour Group: ian.greenwood@bradford.gov.uk
Liberal Democrat Group: jeanette.sunderlad@bradford.gov.uk