HEADS of the union representing teachers Stroud and Gloucestershire are warning the government’s funding formula changes could lead to redundancies and restructuring in schools across the county.

Officers of the Gloucestershire Association of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) met with the chair of the government’s Education Select Committee, Stroud MP Neil Carmichael, to warn of what many school leaders are calling a ‘crisis’.

The meeting earlier this month concentrated on the current schools funding consultation in Gloucestershire, which would see 103 primary and secondary schools lose nearly £1million of funding.

All eight of Stroud district’s secondaries will receive cuts, with high achieving Marling Grammar School set to lose £74,000 and Thomas Keble School in Eastcombe £92,000.

The Government says schools are funded at record levels and that the current system for distributing money is "unfair, opaque and outdated" and in need of serious reform to even the playing field.

In a shakeup that will see many winners and losers, individual schools are set to miss out on or gain hundreds of thousands of pounds over the next few years to 2019-20.

Official figures released as the part of consultation on the changes have shown 9,045 schools in England will lose money while 10,653 will get more.

But Gloucestershire NUT joint secretary, Sarah Murphy, warned the new formula would have a damaging effect on schools in the county – and said funding should be increased rather than reallocated.

She also highlighted fears over a reduction in the range of curriculum on offer, increased workload and stress for teachers and increases in class sizes by as much as 25 per cent.

All of these factors together, she claimed, were only causing further problems in recruitment and retention of teaching staff, causing instability in schools.

In what she celebrated as a “very constructive” meeting, Mrs Murphy said: “I am extremely pleased that Neil Carmichael MP clearly recognises and agrees that funding to schools needs to be increased not just reallocated via the proposed new funding formula.”

She added: “It is hoped that the Government recognises the devastating impacts that its real terms reduction in education funding of eight per cent will have on the future of the young people of this country.

“As we head into Brexit we should be spending more on those that will lead us into the future not less.”

Stroud News and Journal:

County National Union of Teachers (NUT) assistant secretary, Andy Johnson, said he believed there was considerable common ground between the Union and Mr Carmichael.

“It was good that Neil Carmichael recognises the current parlous state of secondary school finances in Gloucestershire and that the proposed National Funding Formula is going to make matters worse not better,” he said.

“It is also worth noting that he recognises the inappropriateness of Theresa May’s fixation with Free Schools and Grammar Schools and that the money allocated for school building maintenance and improvement is woefully inadequate.”

Mr Carmichael, Conservative MP, said: "The issue of fairer funding for schools has always been a priority for me and I hope that through working together with local teachers and governors we can ensure that the Government addresses the concerns that have been raised by you and others in its consultation.”

A DfE spokeswoman said: "We are going to end the historic postcode lottery in school funding and, under the proposed national schools funding formula, more than half of England's schools will receive a cash boost.

"We are consulting schools, governors, local authorities and parents to make sure we get this formula right, so that every pound of the investment we make in education has the greatest impact.

"We recognise that schools are facing cost pressures, which is why we will continue to provide support to help them use their funding in cost-effective ways, including improving the way they buy goods and services."