The Government are proposing as part of the budget settlement to cut in real terms the amount that gets spent on education in local schools. They will say that in money terms they propose to spend more on education but this is playing with words and more importantly with children’s education.

They want to spend money on their pet project of creating free schools and grammar schools. They are funding this by taking the money out of good local schools.

We don’t need a change to our system locally – schools are pretty good in West Sussex. Standards are good and the last thing that Head Teachers want is a cut of 8% or more in their annual budget by 2019. Yet that is precisely what is being proposed by the Tories.

For instance the cuts would mean £150,366 cut in annual budget for Harlands Primary – £358 per pupil equivalent of 4 teachers being cut.

For Warden Park Academy the cut would be £401,948 cut in the annual budget – £271 per pupil, equivalent of losing 10 teachers.

Richard Bates says, “This is unnecessary, unfair and is strongly opposed by the Liberal Democrats. The Tories at the County Council should be fighting these cuts not pretending that they aren’t happening”

You can check out what it means for your school here