Brighton and Hove headteachers write to government over school funding

A group of headteachers have written to the education secretary to express their dismay at the state of funding for their schools.

A total of 44 headteachers in Brighton and Hove co-signed the letter to Gillian Keegan, also Chichester's MP.

The joint letter warned that students may suffer due to the "diabolical" state of funding.

The Department for Education (DfE) said school spending will reach its highest ever level in real terms by 2025.

The letter said many schools in the city were ending the year with a budget deficit due to unfunded pay awards for staff, increased charges and the cost of covering Covid-related staff absences.

"Schools have already made significant and difficult cuts to services, including reducing staff, cutting curriculum costs and postponing building expenditure," the letter, seen the BBC, said.

"The dedicated professionals in Brighton and Hove work tirelessly to provide the best possible provision for their pupils, but they will not be able to give children what they need unless the government takes immediate action to make schools financially viable."

In the letter, a headteacher of 16 years said this was "the worst financial crisis" to date.

"Everything we have built up and developed to support pupils over the years is being destroyed due to the cuts we have no option than to make," they said.

Another added: "We have nothing left to cut."

Patcham Junior School headteacher Alastair Sutherland said he feared his students will not be able to access the level of education they deserve.

The DfE said the government is investing an extra £2bn next year and the year after, which will bring spending on schools to its highest ever level in real terms, totalling £58.8bn by 2024-25.

Schools will have flexibility over how they use the funding, the DfE added.

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