Leicestershire School Budgets to Face “Triple Whammy”-

Research by the Liberal Democrats showed that the Government is cutting funding for schools in Leicestershire. There's a cut of £89 per pupil which when combined with inflation, is expected to force a number of schools to make difficult decisions on how to provide education.

In May, the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimated that the cost of providing education could rise by 8%, meaning that unless the Government provides extra funding, schools may be forced to severely cut back on resources.

If that wasn't enough, the Government's plan to introduce a new National Funding Formula increasingly looks like it will penalise areas like Leicestershire even further.

Leicestershire's schools are already among the lowest funded in the Country. This triple whammy of funding cuts, cost rises and a new funding formula could force changes that would impact heavily on educational standards.

Leicestershire Lib Dem education spokesman Councillor Geoff Welsh said: "Leicestershire already suffers from having some of the lowest funded schools in the Country. We can't afford to be cut any further."

"Our primary schools in particular already run on a tight budget. Should they face budget cuts then it's quite likely that they'll be forced to lose teaching staff."

There are particular concerns around the "high need" budget that provides extra support for children with special educational needs.

Leicestershire County Council recently trialled a reduction in funding for services for children with hearing difficulties but reinstated the funding following a backlash. There are now concerns that this "triple whammy" on school budgets will force an even larger reduction in services.

Hinckley County Councillor Michael Mullaney said: "Few things are more important to parents than the education of their child. It would be completely unacceptable for the Government to underfund it and allow standards to fall."

"Leicestershire residents have loyally returned Conservative MPs to parliament for years. The Government needs to stop taking them for granted!"