19 July 2002
For all its words about devolution of control, the government effectively tightened its grip on education in the Spending Review, outlining a new blueprint for secondary schools that will explicitly tie significant extra funding to a more prescriptive improvement agenda.
Overall education spending will increase by 6% – £12.8bn – between 2003 and 2006. But it is the more targeted elements of the funding, presented by Education Secretary Estelle Morris on July 16, that are expected to deliver the much sought after improvements in comprehensive schools.
Direct grants to head teachers in the shape of school standards grants will increase by £1bn, ensuring that the average secondary will receive £165,000 a year.
But while this money can be spent at head teachers' discretion, Morris was adamant that it was dependent on teachers accepting a new national agreement on a 'reformed workforce' due in the autumn. This is expected to include moves to widen the role of teaching assistants and a new performance management regime to 'eliminate poor teaching'.
From next year, Morris will introduce a £125,000 leadership incentive grant. Designed to promote 'excellent' leadership in England's 1,400 most challenged secondary schools, it will be paid without strings to schools that conform to its reform agenda. Those failing will be forced to draw up an improvement plan that could include sacking the head teacher.
Much of this builds on the education white paper published in September 2001, which promised to close down failing schools and use successful head teachers to run federations of schools.
Morris also announced that 300 schools would be designated as 'advanced' over the next four years. These will be charged with helping to lever up standards. The education secretary said she also aimed to increase the numbers of specialist schools to 2,000, more than half of all secondaries, while creating 33 new city academies.
Ofsted inspections will be reformed to take account of the new secondary system.
Unions reacted strongly to the government's plans. 'I find it incomprehensible that she and her government have seen fit to crank up the number of targets set for schools,' said Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers.
David Hart of the NAHT said: 'The government can concentrate as much as it likes on the radical bells and whistles of its package. But head teachers will judge the chancellor on his ability to make their baseline budgets vastly better.'
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