Over half of Brighton schools face funding reductions under Tory budget formula
Over half of Brighton schools face cuts in their funding under Tory budget plans for 2018/19 a new GMB study has revealed.
The study by GMB, the union for support staff in education, shows that of the 66 schools in Brighton, 36 (55%, or just over a half) will lose funding under the currently proposed school funding formula. This does not take in to account other real term cuts due to rising costs, inflation and other cost pressures they are faced with which some estimates suggest will be massively higher. See www.schoolcuts.org.uk for estimated reductions in budgets by 2020.
The school in the area affected most would be Brighton Aldridge Community Academy which would face cuts in the first year of £66,000 followed by Blatchington Mill School and Sixth Form College facing a £47,000 cut. Next would be Portslade Aldridge Community Academy with cuts of £42,000, King’s School with cuts of £28,000 and City Academy Whitehawk with cuts of £25,000.
The table below shows all schools in Brighton that will face cuts in the first year of transition towards the new formula.
Proposed funding cuts in first year:
Brighton Aldridge Community Academy -£66,000
Blatchington Mill School and Sixth Form College -£47,000
Portslade Aldridge Community Academy -£42,000
King’s School -£28,000
City Academy Whitehawk -£25,000
Mile Oak Primary School -£24,000
Saltdean Primary School -£24,000
Bevendean Primary School -£23,000
Fairlight Primary School -£23,000
Moulsecoomb Primary School -£22,000
Queen’s Park Primary School -£22,000
Rudyard Kipling Primary School & Nursery -£22,000
Carden Primary School -£21,000
Coldean Primary School -£21,000
West Blatchington Primary and Nursery School -£19,000
Benfield Primary School -£16,000
Coombe Road Primary School -£15,000
Carlton Hill Primary School -£14,000
St Bartholomew’s CofE Primary School -£13,000
St Mary Magdalen Catholic Primary School -£13,000
St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School -£12,000
St Mark’s CofE Primary School -£12,000
Middle Street Primary School -£12,000
St Mary’s Catholic Primary School -£12,000
Patcham Junior School -£11,000
St Martin’s CofE Primary School -£11,000
St Margaret’s CofE Primary School, Rottingdean -£10,000
Hertford Infant and Nursery School -£10,000
Hertford Junior School -£10,000
St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School
St Bernadette’s Catholic Primary School -£10,000
Peter Gladwin Primary School -£10,000
St Peter’s Community Primary School -£9,000
Brackenbury Primary School -£3,000
Our Lady of Lourdes RC School -£2,000
St Paul’s CofE Primary School and Nursery -£2,000
Paul Maloney, GMB Southern Regional Secretary said, “These unprecedented cuts to our education system will have far reaching consequences for ordinary working people and their families not to mention our GMB members’ jobs.
“It is well known that schools have already had significant cuts to their ever depleting budgets, and this is just one step too far.
“Make no mistake about it these new round of cuts will have a major impact on a child’s education if they are pushed through.
“School head teachers have already had to make large cuts to their budgets where they have already trimmed down the service to an all time low.
“Head Teachers again have faced a reduction in education spending per head, bigger class sizes, less teachers, reduction in teaching assistances and support staff curriculum cuts, mass redundancies, and failing infrastructures.
“The figures in the table show cuts proposed by the new national funding formula that will be introduced in 2018/19. The real shortfall will be much higher as schools will continue to face a failure of growth in funding to keep up with rising costs, inflation and other cost pressures.
“If this government wants to improve education, then all they have to do is invest in our current state schools.”
Contact: Paul Maloney on 07901343839 or Michelle Gordon on 07866 369 259
Notes to editors:
1) Source: Department for Education Dedicated schools Grant allocations under the proposed National Funding Formulae
2) These figures are for cuts that are proposed in the national funding formula. The funding shortfall will be bigger due to the failure of growth in funding to keep up with higher costs that the schools face.
