It's not enough (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

It's not enough

SCHOOLS in Swindon are set to receive five per cent more money than last year but headteachers and councillors say it is still not enough.

The schools' combined income for 2004-5, including Government grants and money raised from council tax, is to increase by £4.17m.

Swindon councillors confirmed the budget earlier this week.

But Coun Garry Perkins (Con, Shaw and Nine Elms), lead member for education, wants to receive more money from the Government. He says Swindon is underfunded by Whitehall.

He said the increase was nowhere near enough and fell below the national average of 5.7 per cent.

"We are pleased to have the five per cent but we would like to have seven, eight or 10 per cent," he said.

"There are authorities in the country which are getting double the total of what Swindon is getting, and for some reason the Government does not value pupils in Swindon as much as the rest of the country."

Swindon's settlement from central Government is worked out using a formula that notes the town's relative affluence, economic growth, high wages, low number of children claiming free school meals, and suppresses the town's allocation accordingly. Coun Perkins said that some of the extra money would be absorbed by new costs, such as training support assistants, and would not necessarily be spent directly on pupils.

Labour education spokesman Jim D'Avila (Moredon) said that he would have liked schools to get more money, but said voters would have been unwilling to stomach a 15 per cent council tax rise to give education a further boost.

Keith Defter, chairman of the Swindon Association of Secondary Heads, said that the extra money would not be enough to lift the threat of teacher redundancies from many schools.

"It's by and large a standstill situation," he said.

"While people are grateful it's not going backwards, it's not going to make a major difference.

"Swindon is one of the poorest funded authorities in the country and every teacher is going to struggle to manage their budget.

"No secondary school has a healthy budget and the redundancy situation is always in the back of our minds at this time of year."

Headteachers will now start drawing up their schools' budgets for the next year.