It is clear from the reports of discussions within government and within the Conservative Parliamentary party that many think more money should be given to schools that have low funding levels today. There is general agreement to the idea of the pending reform, that a larger share of the money should go as a per pupil sum for each student at the school to reflect the basic costs of provision where ever it may be in the country and whatever the social background. There is also agreement among many that the better funded schools should not have cash taken away from them when the more lowly funded schools get more.
The Treasury clearly hoped that the new formula would take money from the generously funded and give to the poorly funded without major increases in total funding. It is never easy getting through these redistributional reforms, as the losers always speak more volubly than the winners. It looks as if on this occasion there will need to be some pump priming money as the formula is altered, to prevent big losers. It will also be needed to give sufficient to the winners for them to think they have made a reasonable gain.
Labour asked a Question in the House about this yesterday. The junior Minister, Mr Gibb, replied. He was unable to reveal more of the detail, as the government is still finalising its position on its response to the consultation concerning the new formula. I had a conversation with him afterwards to remind him of the position of Wokingham and West Berkshire.
Wokingham and West Berkshire schools remain at the low end of the table for per pupil money. It does not cost us less in Wokingham to educate a child than it does in the big cities.Teachers pay is based on national rates, whilst property costs are quite high. These matters need to be reflected in a common per pupil sum throughout the country which is a sufficiently high proportion of the total money awarded.
Meanwhile this week in the Commons Ministers have returned to explaining that there do have to be sensible controls on the total level of public spending, given the continuing deficit. More work is being done on spending priorities, and on raising the general level of efficiency and quality in public service. The answer to the need for better public services lies partly in economic growth generating more revenue, and partly in better management. Working smarter can be a win for taxpayers, keeping down cost, for service users, bringing up quality, and for employees, with better paid and more rewarding jobs. I raised these issues with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury when she answered a question about public sector pay yesterday.
July 6, 2017
You say “Working smarter can be a win for taxpayers, keeping down cost, for service users, bringing up quality, and for employees, with better paid and more rewarding jobs.” This alas very rarely happens in the state sector.
The money should of course largely go in the form of vouchers/credit given to parents to allow them to spend in or top up at whatever school they choose. Get the power to the customers that is what will actually improve education, choice and freedom. Schools would then have to perform and attract pupils with high standards. We need far more productive engineers, builders, scientist, electricians, mathematicians, engineers, business & sales people and the likes (with far fewer lawyers, HR experts, humanities students, PPE dopes and the likes).
This would be achieved by cutting red tape and getting power & choice to the parents and students.
This would also save money and get more money into education, as very many parents would be quite happy to top up these vouchers.
The same approach would work well at the NHS to shorten the queues and rationing system, improve choice and save money too.
Alas we have socialist May & Hammond in charge (well sort of in charge).
July 6, 2017
Then again both Cameron & Blair would make quite good second hand car sales people, they were just in the wrong job as “cast iron” and “war on a blatant lie” PMs.
July 6, 2017
Umpteen years of ‘the child is always right’, which parents and grandparents ‘enjoyed’ too and as a result meant they never grew up, has led to the need for ever smaller class sizes and ‘teaching support’ and consequently a huge decline in productivity.
Let’s relate teacher’s pay to class size, a teacher with an assistant and a class of 21 should only get a quarter of the pay of a solo teacher with a class size of 42!
July 7, 2017
In my primary school I remember I was in a class of 44 and most classes were around 40. It worked fine, the teachers were good, there was good control and it caused no problems.
July 6, 2017
This is an admission that new arrivals, whether they contribute to the wealth of the economy or not, are a drain on resources as they bring in their families which have to be catered for.
You cannot, as we are seeing, have an open door immigration policy and a “free for all” welfare state running side-by-side. The sooner the government realises this as seeks either, to reduce drastically all inward immigration or, end free at the point of service, such as education, then we will see no end to demands on the public purse.
July 6, 2017
Oh sorry. Good morning.
July 6, 2017
Mr Redwood – be radical! Conservative even!
Answer to yourself these questions:
Why should every single person in UK stay on at school until they are 18 years old?
Why should 50% of pupils go on to University?
How many days of actual teaching are done at “College”?
At the moment, a lot of the teaching is actually done by people who do the jobs which they teach. For example Event Management at Sheffield University is taught by event Managers. Why not learn the trade properly in a company of Event Managers?
Twenty years ago, parents thought that the words “College” and “Academy carried a cachet. No more.
Radical thinking about education is needed” we can cut costs, make the whole system work much better than it is and help the poor boys and girls who are stranded at the end of the process.
Nobody seems to be asking these questions.
July 6, 2017
Mike Stallard
Good post, agree
July 7, 2017
Mr Redwood – be radical! Conservative even!
I have been urging Mr Redwood to be more radical and conservative for years..despite this he has doggedly stuck to his middle of the road path. Corbyn has shown that principled politicians, however misguided can be popular. They don’t always have to try to second guess what the most popular view on any subject is likely to be.
He grumbles about the consequences but is unwilling to challenge the dark forces of diversity and political correctness.
July 7, 2017
University is too often rather a waste of time and money – unless you are going to get a professional qualification in (perhaps an over) protected area such as Law, Medicine or similar or a decent science degree or are going to meet a young, bright (& even rich perhaps) wife or husband to be that is.
If you want the latter than boys should perhaps aim for history of art, languages, drama, English or similar and girls for science/physics/maths – then they get about 4 to 1 in their favour genderwise.
July 6, 2017
I don’t suppose it will be possible to do much given the hung Parliament but it is clear public sector pay for services such as education and health needs to be set locally, based on local supply and demand and prices.
July 6, 2017
“It does not cost us less in Wokingham to educate a child than it does in the big cities.Teachers pay is based on national rates, whilst property costs are quite high”
I imagine actually it costs quite a bit less in Wokingham – for example what percentage of the pupils there don’t have English as a first language, or have special needs, or come from disadvantaged backgrounds ? Less than in big cities I imagine.
July 6, 2017
It’s obvious. Don’t take money away from the better funded schools, just bring the lower funded ones up to the same level. Scrap the skewed Barnett Formula and use the money to bring all public spending in England up to the same level as the rest of the UK. I am sick of seeing English taxes being used on everyone except the English.
July 6, 2017
It should not be rocket science. A basic rate per capita rolled out nationally. Then a table of additions.
1.
More to teach English and British values to the vast array of pupils who do not speak English as a first language.
2.
More for defined special needs both mental and physical.
3.
More for a much greater emphasis on physical education and sport to roll back the tide of obesity I witness on visiting England.
4.
More for the teachers who have the added expense of living in and around London.
5.
More for any other defined and legitimate reason.
6.
A bonus for goals achieved both academic and physical when tested by both independent and outside examination.
Whatever sums are decided upon they will still be inadequate in comparison with private education. As private education relieves the burden that otherwise falls on the state, the fees paid should be tax deductible.
July 6, 2017
Taxes and education: as a taxpayer and Conservative, I am unhappy with the propagandising of unformed minds by Left-wing teachers. They seem to think it meritorious to abuse me while taking my money. Is this inevitable in a State education system? What can be done about it? Why should Conservatives put up with it?
July 6, 2017
The taxpayer now exists simply to feed the almost infinite and seemingly never-ending appetite of the vested interest that is the ‘State’. The State demands you finance it and labels you immoral if you don’t ie tax avoidance which is perfectly legal but as been rebranded as somehow immoral.
You’re either on the inside and enjoy the closeted protection of the State or you’re on the outside looking in and being made to finance the immoral waste that so clearly exists and will continue to exist because politicians refuse to confront reform
July 6, 2017
In the last few days we have been told that the Sats results indicate approximately 40% of children do not meet the literacy and numeracy targets and that maths in particular is a problem because the teaching assistants, themselves, are not qualified sufficiently to understand the probers themselves, let alone teach other people. Apparently we are the only (one of the few?) major countries where the grandparents are more literate and numerate than their grandchildren.
A child of 10 I know in her school in Belvedere had no permanent teacher for many months and no homework similarly, they had no aspiration to achieve the 11+ so her parents paid for private tuition, unfortunately with no success. When Sats time came, they were all chivvied to attend extra pre school tuition plus she was given someone to write for her, apparently her writing speed is a problem, all because Sats success gave them more money. No effort for the child’s future but when it came to money for the school, now that was different.
Michael Gove seemed to be getting somewhere taking on the blob but was replaced by successive Ministers, more for an easy political life, than achieving real change and my personal experience and the overall Sats figures illustrate how poor the Tories achievements are. Again, in the private sector we would say prove you can spend the existing budget effectively before asking for more.
July 6, 2017
Off topic
http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/825225/David-Cameron-Brexit-deal-MPs-Norway-Theresa-May
I voted out of the eu full stop and that means not being any part of the eu , if Westminster goes against the will of the people and try’s to keep us tied to the eu you do at your peril because come the next GE most of you will be picking up your P45’s
July 6, 2017
and more work is certainly needed. We spend £132,000,000, to administer £13,000,000,000 of overseas aid.
I’m sure you could snip a chunk of that to divert to school funding.
July 6, 2017
Perhaps we could start charging foreigners for their offsprings education.
Our local academy get approx 4 new entrants weekly and no applying necessary. Just turn up at the gates and be given fast track admission.
Meanwhile local kids are sent all over the county as the local school is full. Unless you are an immigrant of course.
An acquaintance whos daughter works for the local immigration office tells me they have been threatened with dismissal if they reveal the true level of immigration.
It’s apparently running over twice the official figure.
July 6, 2017
@Ian Wragg
The official figure is approx 600,000 gross 300,000 net.
so do you mean the actual figure is 1,200,000 p.a. ?
That would explain why applications for NI numbers, sewage output and food consumption don’t tie up with official population numbers.
July 7, 2017
Why would they be threatened with dismissal if they revealed true figures? This is the greatest challenge facing the country today, in my opinion, and money for schools, doctors, roads any everything else is secondary. There is little difference between the big 3 parties and few people at the top seem to want to discuss any of this. The question is why?
July 6, 2017
Yet more evidence that central planning and state education are failures. If we lived in a free market economy these issues would never arise.
July 6, 2017
So Blair was being “emotionally truthful” when he went on about weapons of mass destruction capable of being used within X minutes. But he did not even bother to ask what type of weapons they even were. Sure, Tony!
I suppose all religious terrorists could argue they were being emotionally true to themselves. Emotion is best kept out of decisions & government. We surely want people who think with a rational brain and not their guts. Preferably people not infected with irrational belief systems I think.
July 6, 2017
LL. Isn’t this more or less the verdict we expected though. If it were you or I it would be damn right lying.
July 6, 2017
£1,500 supplement awarded for each pupil who has English as an additional language.
I do not think you need look very far for your additional funds sir.
July 6, 2017
Add to that, the ‘trawler net’ mentality for discovering special needs pupils (and the extra funding it brings with it). My son moves to secondary school in September and his school are ‘confident’ that they will find quite a few. I suppose that the specially-appointed staff member has to cover the wages.
July 6, 2017
On the subject of it not costing more to educate a child in an inner city than Wokingham, why does even the new formula award secondary pupils a greater amount than primary pupils?
July 6, 2017
Specialist teachers, the wider curriculum, the cost of equipping science labs, the ever changing GCSE curriculum etc and so forth. You could ask the same question about why university tuition fees are higher still.
Schools are always crying out for enthusiastic lay persons to be governors. Volunteer and give something back
July 9, 2017
All the above applies to primary schools swapping SATs for GCSE.
I know, I am giving something back as a primary governor
July 6, 2017
School funding should always be made on a per pupil basis . The allocation and the cost of teachers is related to this . Criticisms of the achievement schools obtain is more a reflection on the effectiveness of teachers than it is on the native intelligence of pupils ; the national curriculum tests are very misleading and should be replaced by tests of IQ , Maths , Reading and English .
Schools have the responsibility of preparing the young for their futures in a democratic society . How they are inspired is a condition that will determine the degree of their success in life . The quality and the training of teachers is the critical condition .
Whoever is responsible for the allocation of funds to schools needs to get first hand experience before making any decisions ; the cost of running schools and their effectiveness will depend on this .
July 6, 2017
Meanwhile, we are importing poorer children by the many thousand each year, and 25% of births are from non-British born mothers many of whom can’t speak English, who then get a pupil premium for their child’s school to the detriment of the children of people that have been paying in taxes whilst single from the age of 16, 18 or 21. The Left in this Country won’t accept that immigration is causing any problems and keep saying that studies have shown that immigrants are paying their own way, they can’t be – the figures are just a fabrication. We have seen how many residents end up in tower blocks in London all in London schools getting pupil premium places whilst not being on any registers apparently, we’ve seen illegal sub-letting now, we’ve been woken up to all the scams in London and eventually naturalised people that can’t get accommodation in London but have to live in zone 5 and beyond and pay extortionate travel to get to their jobs will start to kick off.
July 6, 2017
The great levelling is on its way via the Med and Turkey. It is by Western government via NGOs.
This makes any economising irrelevant.
This makes all the ‘high powered’ talking in Parliament – irrelevant.
July 6, 2017
This does not stop until we become North Africa.
(How did David Cameron get away with the blame for it ?)
July 6, 2017
To be fair to Mr Cameron he was quite staunch in his belief that the problem should be addressed locally in Africa. It was Europe (and Yvette Cooper and Bob Geldoff and the twitter,ex-singer bird whose actor father is a bit of a lefty) that invited them all here and then complained of the burden.
Quite apart from anything else it is cheaper to feed and house them all in Africa than it is in Europe (so long as the NGOs are not taking their wages.
July 6, 2017
Were the people who wrapped Grenfell Tower in flammable insulation being emotionally true to their green crap religion? A shame they were not being scientific, numerate and logical.
The same might apply to the dopes in Camden who have foolishly over reacted in evacuating towers in Swiss Cottage. Despite the fact that on any rational assessment with extra fire and patrols they are fare safer than cycling in London for an hour or two. Meanwhile they encourage cycling.
We are governed by fools alas and very often corrupt and cowardly ones too.
July 6, 2017
All experience schools. Most experience places of work. Most worked in both. We have seen wastage, proof of theft, bad prioritisation of money allocation and work scheduling. We have gasped with incredulity. “How did he, she, they, it, get away with it?”. A conspiracy of silence exists in some respect virtually everywhere at all levels. Same with hospitals, old people’s homes, financial companies, classrooms, teacher staff rooms, school committees. Political party meetings and Council meetings. Been there, seen it, got out with our lives.
Personally, I’d have everyone working in and for schools to have a clocking- in machine, in and out, with random checks that no-one was being clocked in by another employee. All paid hourly and a quarter of hour’s pay docked if three minutes late or leaving three minute early. A need to prove they had the means to get to work when more than one inch of snow on the ground before they were given employment and every single year of employment. Holiday entitlement to not exceed five weeks per year. Forty hour working week ( standard ) with all hours to worked within the school gates and playing fields…and checked by an outside checker not paid by the Local Authority or school adminstration. Pupils not to have more than five weeks holiday per year but to be taken at ANY time of the year. Headmaster to be given one months notice of the holiday of the pupil. Thirty rest days to be allocated to each child per year where they can take a day off with one weeks notice. Working under a teacher-Boss and with no personal power is very stressful. Young humans need a break from such psychological slavery with even their parents in agreement to it. Nothing could be worse than for a young human to have no protector of his rights of his humanity be it Law or adultdom. He does not have sufficient rights. No rights at all in fact except those dictated by not him.
July 6, 2017
PS Teachers to be compelled to wear a school uniform at all times and any parent visiting the school to be loaned a uniform temporarily on entering. No pupil compelled to wear uniforms. Teachers, in their contracts of employment should be prevented from bringing smartphones, and eating chewing gum even at break times.
July 6, 2017
How was it ever accepted that schools in the country should get less than schools in cities when the costs are the same? I would guess because of the Great God Diversity before whom we all have to bow down. Well the English working class are now officially a deprived minority and it is high time something was done for them in their own country.
July 6, 2017
A fact of life is that how ever undeserved a right and/or privilege is when given it is dangerous to attempt to take it away. That is why so much of our society is in mess and becoming increasingly difficult if not impossible to sustain at the present level and ever increasing demands it has on the public purse and for social justice causes.
Governments especially of the left love to give away benefits and special rights with little or misguided thought as to the what the consequences of such largess will be. Later generations of the more sensible are left to sort out the mess but when they attempt to do so are are blocked by the vociferous and aggressive left and a multitude of vested interests. Who will howl that even more largess must come their way. The Labour party and other parties on the left of course are only to willing to agree and demand to be put in charge so they can do so.
The wish for sensible spending and a public sector body working smarter are forlorn hopes. The public imbued with a culture of dependency and entitlement created by the thoughtless and adolescent idealism of the left like socialists of all hues and progressives will not support it. Along with unions and employees they will not allow the reforms needed to create an environment whereby costs, quality and productively are governed by performance. That way leads to doing a fair days work for a fair days pay and working for the benefit of the consumer and not as it is now largely for themselves.
July 6, 2017
Slightly off topic, but education related…
How can it be justified to increase the interest on students loans to 6.1% this September?
I though “Wonga” style loans had been banished…
Also, maximum annual tuition fee raising to £9250
July 6, 2017
I see no proper financial accountability in schools that would be acceptable to any of us if we personally paid money to the school month by month from our personal savings.
July 6, 2017
You are not looking hard enough in that case (if at all). I am an ex-chair of finance of a medium sized school and can attest that there is strict auditing, budgeting, benchmarking of costs and oversight from the council and the governing body.
I can not speak for the same procedures in academies or free schools but would imagine in many cases they are good. There will be some that are fraudulent but I would expect them to be the exception rather than the rule.
One criticism that would be justified is the rise of educational consultants and their remuneration. But this is a cancer that preys on the private sector corporations as much as the public sector.
July 8, 2017
Oh but I am looking hard enough Narrow Shoulders. What do you audit? Figures? Of course. What do you budget? Figures? Of course. Okay, so where did the can of salmon go to on the last school camping trip, for example? It was ordered, supplied and it was said to be eaten by children. Well, that is your auditing and budgeting. But it wasn’t, the salmon was taken home by a teacher and eaten in his home, for example. Your books show nothing is wrong.
To repeat what I stated as you have not looked hard enough (if at all)
“I see no proper financial accountability in schools that would be acceptable to any of us if we personally paid money to the school month by month from our personal saving.”
July 6, 2017
Dear John–Far too many people get “degrees” these days and there are far too many “Universities”–We could close a lot of them and turn them in to social housing–The only people who would suffer would be makers of mortar boards. And there are far too may “Professors” these days, given the title best I understand to avoid paying them more (not all silly I suppose).
July 6, 2017
But how would those greedy, philistine vicechancellors justify their CEO type salaries?
July 6, 2017
Indeed their are many subjects that people study that hardly qualify to be a degree subject, many are hobbies and people should surely pay for their own hobbies.
Many universities clearly need to be closed down. I would probably only give student loans to people studying maths, physics, real science, (sound) economics, medicine, veterinary, engineering and not much more. If you want to study say English, History, Politics, Divinity, Social Sciences, Journalism, Philosophy and the likes just go the the library or watch some lectures on line. It costs nothing but your time.
I would exclude lawyers too as we have about 20 times the numbers needed already anyway,
July 7, 2017
Dear Lifelogic–You forget that British History and Culture is under threat from immigration causing the Country to lose what little cohesion it has left. As I said the other day people no longer know the difference between the First Statute of Westminster and Rorke’s Drift. Unrealistic to hope that our History can be assimilated as a hobby.
July 7, 2017
You must have a sad life Lifelogic if you have no culture, music or art in your life, no books to enjoy or films and new innovative designs.
If all STEM students were like you living together in the same town I wonder what they would do after work? I have a MMath’s graduate son but I’m pleased he enjoys Dance, the arts, and respects the training that those people do.
July 6, 2017
I know it’s not quite the same thing, but:
Vouchers. Empower parents.
July 6, 2017
Only until the spaces run out so they are only a partial answer
July 7, 2017
Indeed make the school responds to parents for a change. Do the same for the dire unworkable NHS and for the BBC licence tax. Power to the people instead of power to the state. We are sick of this “take it or leave it we have you money already” dross from the state sector.
July 6, 2017
As with everything else London gets far more money per head than many other areas of the country. As much as 60% more.
Sometimes i think we actually live in a colonial system where we have to beg the home country (London) for a pittance.
July 6, 2017
The real problem with schools is that they are far less productive than they were in the past. Dumbing down of exam standards means that today’s children spend on average about two years longer in the education system to achieve the same standard that their parents did. Restoring educational standards is the real key to being able to afford a better education system. That in turn depends on realising the importance of the ethos of educational establishments in raising standards: an end to what Michael Gove called “the blob”.
July 6, 2017
You are viewing this from official figures and like Nursing and other health professional post the figures do not match reality . Firstly many of the jobs have been farmed out to private providers, many of the jobs are very part time( yet still need the same updating and out of school work) much of the work is undertaken by teaching assistants ( sometimes a vast improvement to qualified teachers if they can speak English) and many of the senior past well performers abused by past bad treatment and thrown to the basic salary again having so -called time out whilst they are working odd hours harder than anyone else. It is a con.
July 6, 2017
I note that Barnier has been setting out his negotiating position on trade:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-17-1922_en.htm
Perhaps he should try it in German as well as in French?
July 6, 2017
Why don’t they give each parent a voucher/credit for the cost of their child’s education and then allow them to ‘spend’ it at a which ever school they choose?
July 6, 2017
Works fine when the schools are not full to bursting, when there is no choice bad schools get the money anyway.
July 6, 2017
While not wishing to underestimate the importance of education or tax, I think the over-riding issue right now has to be Brexit. It would have been nice to think the government has a plan and is keeping details from public view to avoid giving its interlocturers advanatage. However all the initial signs of the UK caving in on one issue after another are not promising. If the government has failed to prepare for these negotiations you Conservatives will be out of power for a century, so this has to be top of mind. All the signs indicate the EU is not going to offer any trade deal and the government appears to be getting ready to hand over €100bn only to be told ‘fooled you’ when the EU refuses a long-term trade deal. What is going on?
July 7, 2017
Most ominous is this government joining our country to the European Union army, without any discussion of this in the House of Commons.
July 6, 2017
On the basis of government spending per capita and the population rising through immigration we are all going to be poorer unless Tax receipts rise. So the need is to grow the economy and or grow the tax take. A strong currency is best as it supports the economy. Raising interest rates might be the first part of the solution.
July 6, 2017
This is off topic:
John,
I’ve already contacted my consituency MP in support of allowing the baby who needs medical help being allowed to go to either the USA or Italy – as offered by President Trump and the Pope no less. I saw yesterday’s PMQs and May’s feeble (In my opinion) respose to the constituency MP for the parents.
I must admit I’m angry about the legal blocks that the UK medical establishment has gone out of its way to put in place to stop the wishes of the baby’s parents. Is this really just a ” loss of face” exercise by the UK medics who are unwilling to admit that American medics may be able to help?
Can you bring your good offices to bear on the Government to see sense and help the baby to more helpful medics abroad please?
July 6, 2017
When you hear the real circumstances surrounding this baby’s health then it is obvious the baby if allowed to live will suffer all the time he has life. What right has another person go to inflict a life of suffering on another person even if it is your own child? Worse still that it is their child. This baby cannot speak for itself and so a court has been appointed and on the evidence presented and because of this suffering they have made their decision. The parents must stop acting emotionally and do what is best for this person. Let him go.
July 6, 2017
Reading Corbyn’s comments today to the British Chambers of Commerce I feel like i’m living in a parallel universe. I would ask him if skills are falling why are they? Are the Labour party responsible for this? All the children coming out into the world of work at the moment were mainly educated in the Labour government years – education, education, education, creative education – following Labour party curriculums that were changed around all the time (I know I had three children guinea pigs through these years). The school leaving age was raised to 18 years, now 44% of students are going to University is he saying all of these state institutions that educated them have failed?
” in London, Corbyn condemned what he called a “lost decade” of low growth, sluggish living standards and low investment.”
Of course, businesses who want to employ graduates now will have to raise their starting salaries by £1000 per annum to pay their 9% graduate ‘thank you for my education kiss’ (not a tax honest Gov.) If JC goes back to free tuition then why would they in the future they’ll just hire the cheaper graduates coming up behind with no student loans who can then afford to start on lower pay! How much does he intend to screw over the ablest of this decade of graduates that Blair saddles with Student loans, with their 9% graduate kiss fee to pay for the next generations free tuition because the people earning over £100,000pa are already paying 60% tax to £120,000 then 45% higher than ever in the Labour party “boom” creation years. Perhaps the lower growth was as a result of Gordon Browns 50% tax, 60% marginal tax and lower higher rate tax starting point since 2010.
SME Businesses have increased paid holidays including on maternity and sick leave, are now paying extra national insurance in the form of a NEST pension contribution 1-3%, business is paying higher business rates, extra VAT from 15 – 20%, insurance taxes, higher social legislation costs with no recognition of the strides from this leader of the Labour party. I think SME’s should be told what he’s got planned so they can decide whether to invest or not in the next five years? WHY AREN’T THE CBI ASKING FOR DETAILS is it because they only represent big business?
July 6, 2017
You touch on then swiftly shy away from, the common arrangement that wherever one lives as a state employee then the pay levels of each skill is the same, whether nurse, teacher or librarian. As you mention house prices vary significantly across the country whether to rent or buy, yet there is no banding to take account of purchasing power depending on residence.
Salary/wage levels in the private sector, some 80% of the working force, vary depending on the locale, is n’t time to be realistic and introduce a banding scheme for the state sector?
July 6, 2017
Maybe the government should give money to students as well. At the very least it would help the motivated ones to buy access to their own educational material
July 6, 2017
How a school and its Head analyses and defines the amount of money required is often on a par with the defintion of “evening”
Evening= “the time between 6pm and bedtime.”
July 6, 2017
I Know that the funding for English education ( a devolved issue) will be voted on by the MPs from Scotland, N.I. and Wales. MPs that have absolutely no say in the education in their own constituancy but the are able to tell the English what they can have, or more usually, what they can’t have. The West Lothian question is still unresolved after nearly 50 years. The British government doesn’t even use the word England in order to keep the people in the dark.
July 6, 2017
John, Hear, hear.
July 6, 2017
This is why England needs it’s own legislature the same as Scotland, Wales & NI have enjoyed for nearly two decades now. It is an insult that MPs from the across the whole UK are still having a say in matters which only affect England when they have no such say on the same matters for their own constituents. Even more insultingly there is an SNP MP in both the Health and Education Select Committees despite them being English only and not one word of protest from the supine UK MPs squatting in English seats in the UK Government, the only ones England is allowed. Like you say, they can’t even bring themselves to say the word England let alone stand up for it. Don’t mention England is their motto. This is deliberate because they know an English Parliament would be a dilution of their powers and result in a huge cull in their numbers and of course their own self interest comes before what is fair let alone democratic for England.
July 6, 2017
Good for you.. but as a topic for general discussion, education is not the best..there’s nothing there to get your teeth into.
July 6, 2017
I just see this as a signal that the Conservative party’s war with it’s core supporters is just going to rumble on….why not go for a tax on country houses with gardens or a 100% inheritance tax?.
That would really allow your leadership to parade just how ‘fair’ and ‘progressive’ it is these days and perhaps at best encourage 0.00000000000001% of labour voters to join you….
July 6, 2017
Education standards must be declining considering the lamentable response to the Grenfell fire by the legacy media. They do not even know the difference between cladding and insulation.
Nobody there seems to have cottoned on to the fact it was the EU’s obsession with climate change that required high rise buildings like Grenfell to be clad with 6 inches of flammable foam insulation. It must be austerity/nasty tories/bonfire of the quangos etc. is their default knee jerk response. Perhaps Dr Redwood could pick up the baton and expose the EU’s incompetence..
Had BS8414 the comprehensive ‘systems test’ for high rise building not been supplanted by the inferior Euro standard EN13501 (which relies on burning single samples of materials) the Grenfell fire could not have happened in my view.
This was done in in the name of EU ‘harmonisation’.. when we know the Eu is spectacularly bad at drafting regulations. Something for the Europhiles to ponder when they argue that something as vital as fire safety should be delegated to a remote and unaccountable body.
Lethally the EU’s dogmatic stance on ‘man made’ climate change blinded it to the impact of it’s policies on fire safety.
July 6, 2017
Sometime in the near future it is likely children will be able to have an implant capsule inserted that will allow education data to be downloaded from central education computers directly to the brain over a few hours.. this should go a long way to avoid years and years spent in school.. with the huge expense..so here’s looking forward to the future
July 10, 2017
Jonp
If one glances at school education one finds much of it is childminding. A Head childminder on over fifty grand is a bit steep as they only work two thirds of a year and the rest is holiday.
July 6, 2017
Mock the Week, Have I Got News for You,. Private Eye I used to find them funny. Now if I get one laugh out of their “satire” amounting to cartoons in the latter, I go to the bottom of our stairs.
Then I sinned the sin of sins and analysed a joke. Then others. It seems they are catering for Remoaners and the other minority who voted Labour. How odd. But then I guess these losers need something to cheer them up after being beaten convincingly in the referendum and Labour having lost yet again. hahahahahha!
July 6, 2017
The Man at the end of QT had it right to many going to university, qualifying for uni should be academical hard, but financially easy
July 7, 2017
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.@SpeakerRyan: “Members should wear appropriate business attire..”
Great minds think alike. Parliament and the best the Americans can do for one, think a non-functional, non-tying “tie” which does not tie two sides of a shirt together at the neck is to boldly go. And Jiminy Cricket they are the ones to tell us “…expects every man to do his duty” The hell!