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Schools could cut staff or courses to pay bills

BBC/John Fairhall Teachers at The Sweyne Park School in RayleighBBC/John Fairhall
Teachers returned to The Sweyne Park School this week, ahead of the start of the new term

State schools have warned they may have to lose teachers, shelve staff recruitment or cut down on courses as the try to meet soaring energy costs.

The Sweyne Park School in Essex said it was braced for a £580,000 annual gas bill under a new tariff in October, up 346% on the £130,000 it currently pays.

Finance director Simon Smith said it was "without a doubt" that any staffing or class changes would affect pupils.

The government said funding made rises in costs "broadly affordable".

The secondary school in Rayleigh has solar panels on one of its teaching blocks, but most of the school is heated by gas-fired boilers.

BBC/John Fairhall Simon SmithBBC/John Fairhall
Simon Smith said the school may have to face some tough choices

"It might be that we need to look at reducing the number of staff we've got; it might be that we look at not replacing staff," added Mr Smith.

"It might be that we look at some of our courses and where we have small group sizes, we cut them."

'More challenging'

At Kesgrave High, another state school near Ipswich, head teacher Julia Upton said she was "nervous" about the compromises that would need to be made.

It is having energy-efficient windows fitted and roofing is being re-felted and re-insulated.

"If what we end up having to do is lose some staff because of those financial pressures, it will only create more burden on those that remain," she said.

"On the one hand we are trying to attract staff into the profession and keep them in the profession by a pay award, but on the other we are probably making conditions more challenging for them."

BBC/John Fairhall Kesgrave High SchoolBBC/John Fairhall
Kesgrave High School, just east of Ipswich, is having work carried out on its roof

In a survey of 121 school head teachers by the Times Education Supplement, published on Tuesday, 77% said they may restrict heating.

Some 29% said they might have to consider cutting the number of staff, while 53% said they might have to pause recruitment.

The Department for Education said schools budgets would rise by £7bn by 2024-5 and they would receive an increase in funding equating to 7% per pupil in 2022-23, which was "broadly affordable for schools".

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