This Council:
Is deeply concerned by the financial outlook for schools in South Cambridgeshire due to a combination of inadequate government funding and increasing cost pressures.
Believes that the Government’s failure to properly and fairly fund schools is jeopardising the education and future opportunities of young people in South Cambridgeshire and is particularly letting down more vulnerable children, such as those with special educational needs and disabilities, and those who need mental health support.
Notes with concern reports that many schools across the country are having to ask for donations from parents, cutting back teaching hours, reducing staff numbers, reducing mental health support and mentoring for vulnerable pupils. In South Cambridgeshire, where schools have historically been underfunded relative to other parts of the country, more extreme measures are beginning to be taken. For example, Fulbourn Primary School is switching to a four-and-a-half-day week from September, while another of our primary schools is likely to shrink to 3 classes from the current 4, meaning as many as 36 children from 3 different academic years, and up to 4 years age difference, will be taught in a single class. Many other headteachers in South Cambridgeshire are being forced to take similarly agonising decisions which will negatively impact educational outcomes. Schools are one of the cornerstones upon which local communities in South Cambridgeshire are built and thrive, and the current funding situation risks real damage to those communities.
Further notes that years of real-terms pay cuts for teachers, coupled with the pressure caused by funding cuts in schools and an excessive workload that too often leads to physical and/or mental health issues, have led to a crisis in retention and recruitment in the teaching profession. This is driving thousands of dedicated professionals out of the jobs they love, and further undermining the quality of education in our schools.
Will make representations to the Secretary of State for Education and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, calling for them to:
Decision:
Following amendment of the original motion, Council AGREED the following motion:
This Council:
Is deeply concerned by the financial outlook for schools in South Cambridgeshire due to a combination of inadequate government funding and increasing cost pressures.
Believes that successive Governments have not fairly funded schools which is jeopardising the education and future opportunities of young people in South Cambridgeshire and is particularly letting down more vulnerable children, such as those with special educational needs and disabilities, and those who need mental health support.
Notes with concern reports that many schools across the country are having to ask for donations from parents, cutting back teaching hours, reducing staff numbers, reducing mental health support and mentoring for vulnerable pupils. In South Cambridgeshire, where schools have historically been underfunded relative to other parts of the country, more extreme measures are beginning to be taken. For example, Fulbourn Primary School is switching to a four-and-a-half-day week from September, while another of our primary schools is likely to shrink to 3 classes from the current 4, meaning as many as 36 children from 3 different academic years, and up to 4 years age difference, will be taught in a single class. Many other headteachers in South Cambridgeshire are being forced to take similarly agonising decisions which will negatively impact educational outcomes. Schools are one of the cornerstones around which local communities in South Cambridgeshire are built and thrive, and the current funding situation risks real damage to those communities.
Further notes that years of real-terms pay cuts for teachers, coupled with the pressure caused by funding cuts in schools and an excessive workload that too often leads to physical and/or mental health issues, have led to difficulties in retention and recruitment in the teaching profession. This is driving thousands of dedicated professionals out of the jobs they love, and further undermining the quality of education in our schools.
Will make representations to the Secretary of State for Education and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, calling for them to take action during the next spending review to:
Minutes:
Councillor Dr. Ian Sollom moved the following motion as set out in the agenda:
“This Council:
Is deeply concerned by the financial outlook for schools in South Cambridgeshire due to a combination of inadequate government funding and increasing cost pressures.
Believes that the Government’s failure to properly and fairly fund schools is jeopardising the education and future opportunities of young people in South Cambridgeshire and is particularly letting down more vulnerable children, such as those with special educational needs and disabilities, and those who need mental health support.
Notes with concern reports that many schools across the country are having to ask for donations from parents, cutting back teaching hours, reducing staff numbers, reducing mental health support and mentoring for vulnerable pupils. In South Cambridgeshire, where schools have historically been underfunded relative to other parts of the country, more extreme measures are beginning to be taken. For example, Fulbourn Primary School is switching to a four-and-a-half-day week from September, while another of our primary schools is likely to shrink to 3 classes from the current 4, meaning as many as 36 children from 3 different academic years, and up to 4 years age difference, will be taught in a single class. Many other headteachers in South Cambridgeshire are being forced to take similarly agonising decisions which will negatively impact educational outcomes. Schools are one of the cornerstones around which local communities in South Cambridgeshire are built and thrive, and the current funding situation risks real damage to those communities.
Further notes that years of real-terms pay cuts for teachers, coupled with the pressure caused by funding cuts in schools and an excessive workload that too often leads to physical and/or mental health issues, have led to a crisis in retention and recruitment in the teaching profession. This is driving thousands of dedicated professionals out of the jobs they love, and further undermining the quality of education in our schools.
Will make representations to the Secretary of State for Education and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, calling for them to:
· Reverse, in full, the real-terms cuts to per-pupil school budgets since 2015 – meaning schools in South Cambridgeshire would receive £3,837,946 additional funding in 2020.
· Guarantee that all basic equipment and resources, including support staff, are provided so that teachers can focus on delivering a high-quality education to their pupils and the number of talented teachers leaving the profession due to excessive workload may be reduced.
· Provide additional funding to Cambridgeshire and others across the country, to give more, fully funded support to children with special educational needs and disabilities.
· Fix the historic underfunding of Cambridgeshire schools by putting in place genuinely fairer funding through the National Funding Formula.”
Councillor Dr. Sollom spoke in support of his motion, referring to the historic underfunding of schools in Cambridgeshire and the campaigning which had taken place, including by lobbying MPs, to call for changes to the national funding formula and fair funding for Cambridgeshire’s schools. He commented that many head teachers were being driven to extreme measures, which negatively impacted education outcomes, such as reducing school hours; asking parents to contribute towards school running costs; reducing the number of specialist and qualified teachers and placing more workload on teaching assistants. Councillor Dr. Sollom argued that despite Government assurances that more money than ever was going into education, this was not sufficient to cope with the rising costs and demands which schools were facing and that schools were suffering from real term cuts. He further commented that County Council cuts negatively impacted on provision for children with special educational needs and for school improvement. Whilst education was not a District Council function, he felt it was important that the Council should make representations calling for fair funding for schools in South Cambridgeshire.
Councillor Judith Rippeth seconded the motion. In so doing, Councillor Rippeth noted that whilst school fairs and parent teacher association events had previously raised money to provide “extras” for schools, now they were for essentials. Speaking from personal experience as a former teacher, Councillor Rippeth commented on the mental and physical demands placed on teachers and expanded upon the recruitment and retention difficulties facing the profession. She was also concerned about the impact of reducing resources for children with special educational needs.
During discussion upon the motion:
· Councillor John Williams referred to a recent LGA report that 250 primary schools were reducing school hours because of a shortage of funds. He further highlighted the reduction in hours in a primary school in his ward which was moving to a four and a half day week.
· Councillor Graham Cone moved the following amendment (additions shown in underline and deletions in strikethrough):-
“This Council:
Is deeply concerned by the financial outlook for schools in South Cambridgeshire due to a combination of inadequate government funding and increasing cost pressures.
Believes that the successive Governments
Government’s failure to properly and struggle to
fairly fund schools is jeopardising the education and future
opportunities of young people in South Cambridgeshire and is
particularly letting down more vulnerable children, such as those
with special educational needs and disabilities, and those who need
mental health support.
Notes with concern reports that many schools across the country are having to ask for donations from parents, cutting back teaching hours, reducing staff numbers, reducing mental health support and mentoring for vulnerable pupils. In South Cambridgeshire, where schools have historically been underfunded relative to other parts of the country, more extreme measures are beginning to be taken. For example, Fulbourn Primary School is switching to a four-and-a-half-day week from September, while another of our primary schools is likely to shrink to 3 classes from the current 4, meaning as many as 36 children from 3 different academic years, and up to 4 years age difference, will be taught in a single class. Many other headteachers in South Cambridgeshire are being forced to take similarly agonising decisions which will negatively impact educational outcomes. Schools are one of the cornerstones around which local communities in South Cambridgeshire are built and thrive, and the current funding situation risks real damage to those communities.
Further notes that years of real-terms pay
cuts for teachers, coupled with the pressure caused by funding cuts
in schools and an excessive workload that too often leads to
physical and/or mental health issues, have may led
lead to a crisis difficulties in retention and recruitment
in the teaching profession. This is driving thousands of dedicated
professionals out of the jobs they love, and further undermining
the quality of education in our schools.
Will make representations to the Secretary of State for Education and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, calling for them to take action during the next spending review:
· Reverse, in full, the real-terms cuts to per-pupil school budgets since 2015 meaning schools in South Cambridgeshire would receive £3,837,946 additional funding in 2020.
· Guarantee that all basic equipment and resources, including support staff, are provided so that teachers can focus on delivering a high-quality education to their pupils and the number of talented teachers leaving the profession due to excessive workload may be reduced.
· Provide additional funding to Cambridgeshire and others across the country, to give more, fully funded support to children with special educational needs and disabilities.
· Fix the historic underfunding of Cambridgeshire schools by putting in place genuinely fairer funding through the National Funding Formula.”
Councillor Cone commented that he did not wish to see schools in the District suffer or head teachers being forced to make difficult decisions. He explained the reasoning behind his amendment, noting that it was designed to increase the likelihood of the Government listening to the Council’s representations and arguing that the call for the Government to take action in the next spending review strengthened the motion.
Councillor Heather Williams seconded the amendment. She referred to the need for fair funding for schools in the District and suggested that the proposed amendment would add weight to the original motion and increase the likelihood of it being listened to.
During discussion upon the amendment:-
· Councillors Dr. Tumi Hawkins and Dr. Aidan Van de Weyer both spoke on the amendment, noting that the final part of the amendment was acceptable but that they could not support the earlier changes proposed.
· Councillor Deborah Roberts spoke against the amendment. She commented that the District Council was not responsible for education and did not feel the Council had the ability to have any influence with Government in this area.
· Councillor Tom Bygott supported earlier comments that toning down the language increased the chance of the Government taking account of the representations made.
· Councillor Nick Wright suggested that instead of writing to the Government, Cabinet should review whether it could take any action to address the situation.
Following further discussions between the mover of the amendment and the mover of the original motion, Councillor Dr. Ian Sollom, the mover of the original motion agreed to alterations to his motion so that it read as follows:
“This Council:
Is deeply concerned by the financial outlook for schools in South Cambridgeshire due to a combination of inadequate government funding and increasing cost pressures.
Believes that the successive
Governments Government’s failure to properly and
struggle to have not fairly
funded schools which is jeopardising the education and future
opportunities of young people in South Cambridgeshire and is
particularly letting down more vulnerable children, such as those
with special educational needs and disabilities, and those who need
mental health support.
Notes with concern reports that many schools across the country are having to ask for donations from parents, cutting back teaching hours, reducing staff numbers, reducing mental health support and mentoring for vulnerable pupils. In South Cambridgeshire, where schools have historically been underfunded relative to other parts of the country, more extreme measures are beginning to be taken. For example, Fulbourn Primary School is switching to a four-and-a-half-day week from September, while another of our primary schools is likely to shrink to 3 classes from the current 4, meaning as many as 36 children from 3 different academic years, and up to 4 years age difference, will be taught in a single class. Many other headteachers in South Cambridgeshire are being forced to take similarly agonising decisions which will negatively impact educational outcomes. Schools are one of the cornerstones around which local communities in South Cambridgeshire are built and thrive, and the current funding situation risks real damage to those communities.
Further notes that years of real-terms pay
cuts for teachers, coupled with the pressure caused by funding cuts
in schools and an excessive workload that too often leads to
physical and/or mental health issues, have may led
lead to a crisis difficulties in retention and
recruitment in the teaching profession. This is driving thousands
of dedicated professionals out of the jobs they love, and further
undermining the quality of education in our schools.
Will make representations to the Secretary of State for Education and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, calling for them to take action during the next spending review:
· Reverse, in full, the real-terms cuts to per-pupil school budgets since 2015 – meaning schools in South Cambridgeshire would receive £3,837,946 additional funding in 2020.
· Guarantee that all basic equipment and resources, including support staff, are provided so that teachers can focus on delivering a high-quality education to their pupils and the number of talented teachers leaving the profession due to excessive workload may be reduced.
· Provide additional funding to Cambridgeshire and others across the country, to give more, fully funded support to children with special educational needs and disabilities.
· Fix the historic underfunding of Cambridgeshire schools by putting in place genuinely fairer funding through the National Funding Formula.”
The Chairman noted that the 30 minutes allowed for debate upon the motion had expired and accordingly called upon Councillor Dr. Ian Sollom to exercise his right of reply. Councillor Dr. Sollom argued that even though the Council was not responsible for education, it was important that it sought to influence the debate to persuade the Government to introduce fair funding for schools in the County.
Upon the motion, as altered, being put to the vote, votes were cast as follows:
In favour (37):
Councillors Henry Batchelor, John Batchelor, Dr. Shrobona Bhattacharya, Anna Bradnam, Tom Bygott, Grenville Chamberlain, Sarah Cheung Johnson, Gavin Clayton, Graham Cone, Dr. Claire Daunton, Dr. Douglas de Lacey, Clare Delderfield, Sue Ellington, Peter Fane, Neil Gough, Bill Handley, Philippa Hart, Geoff Harvey, Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Pippa Heylings, Mark Howell, Steve Hunt, Alex Malyon, Tony Mason, Brian Milnes, Judith Rippeth, Nick Sample, Bridget Smith, Hazel Smith, Dr. Ian Sollom, Peter Topping, Dr. Aidan Van de Weyer, Bunty Waters, Heather Williams, John Williams, Eileen Wilson and Nick Wright.
Against (0)
Abstain (1)
Councillor Deborah Roberts.
The Chairman declared the motion to be carried:
RESOLVED:
This Council:
Is deeply concerned by the financial outlook for schools in South Cambridgeshire due to a combination of inadequate government funding and increasing cost pressures.
Believes that successive Governments have not fairly funded schools which is jeopardising the education and future opportunities of young people in South Cambridgeshire and is particularly letting down more vulnerable children, such as those with special educational needs and disabilities, and those who need mental health support.
Notes with concern reports that many schools across the country are having to ask for donations from parents, cutting back teaching hours, reducing staff numbers, reducing mental health support and mentoring for vulnerable pupils. In South Cambridgeshire, where schools have historically been underfunded relative to other parts of the country, more extreme measures are beginning to be taken. For example, Fulbourn Primary School is switching to a four-and-a-half-day week from September, while another of our primary schools is likely to shrink to 3 classes from the current 4, meaning as many as 36 children from 3 different academic years, and up to 4 years age difference, will be taught in a single class. Many other headteachers in South Cambridgeshire are being forced to take similarly agonising decisions which will negatively impact educational outcomes. Schools are one of the cornerstones around which local communities in South Cambridgeshire are built and thrive, and the current funding situation risks real damage to those communities.
Further notes that years of real-terms pay cuts for teachers, coupled with the pressure caused by funding cuts in schools and an excessive workload that too often leads to physical and/or mental health issues, have led to difficulties in retention and recruitment in the teaching profession. This is driving thousands of dedicated professionals out of the jobs they love, and further undermining the quality of education in our schools.
Will make representations to the Secretary of State for Education and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, calling for them to take action during the next spending review to:
· Reverse, in full, the real-terms cuts to per-pupil school budgets since 2015 – meaning schools in South Cambridgeshire would receive £3,837,946 additional funding in 2020.
· Guarantee that all basic equipment and resources, including support staff, are provided so that teachers can focus on delivering a high-quality education to their pupils and the number of talented teachers leaving the profession due to excessive workload may be reduced.
· Provide additional funding to Cambridgeshire and others across the country, to give more, fully funded support to children with special educational needs and disabilities.
· Fix the historic underfunding of Cambridgeshire schools by putting in place genuinely fairer funding through the National Funding Formula.