Hampshire Schools Cut 

Education is one of the building blocks of our society. It is key to offering our young people opportunities in life. Yet as a school governor, I am annoyed that the Conservative government consistently continues to cut our budgets’ whilst wasting billions on PPE contracts.

Schools in Hampshire are set to be hit with a £29.7 million cut to spending power in 2024/25 data from the National Education Union reveals. Of the 490 schools, 448 will have less spending power. In practical terms, average funding per pupil will be cut by £168 next year. For Primary schools, there will be a £153 reduction in spending power per pupil, and in Secondary schools there will be a £219 fall per pupil.

What does all this mean for us? As Liberal Democrats, we have warned that the fall in spending power will push already stretched school budgets to the brink, with a worse educational experience for pupils and worse outcomes. It comes as new data released last week showed that this Conservative Government has cut the annual growth in funding in cash terms from 8% in 2023/24 to 3.1% in 2024/25. The Lib Dems are calling for the Government to review school funding after the IFS has concluded that the purchasing power of school budgets in 2024 will still be about 4% lower than in 2010.

This Conservative government has failed our children. Parents in our community should not have to send their children to schools which have had their funding decimated by a Conservative government that has lost interest in providing high-quality education. Investing in education is investing in our children’s future. We need to urgently look at increasing our school funding.

Cllr Luigi Gregori

Lib Dem PPC NWHants