28 February 2003
The row over the education 'passporting' fiasco escalated this week, when the Local Government Association accused Charles Clarke of effectively ringfencing cash from council tax rises.
A letter sent by LGA chair Sir Jeremy Beecham to the education secretary, obtained by Public Finance, decries Clarke's decision to force two councils – Westminster and Croydon - to increase education spending for 2003/04 as 'at odds with any notion of local democratic accountability'.
Beecham's broadside is the latest twist in a row that began when Clarke exercised controversial reserve powers to force the two London boroughs to pass on to schools – or 'passport' – extra cash gleaned from this year's revised local government finance settlement.
Both boroughs now claim they may have to raise council taxes by more then they anticipated to cover the spending. Westminster said it would be forced to spend an extra £9m on schools, despite receiving just £7m more this year from the broader finance settlement.
The LGA and the Association of London Government are enraged that the Department for Education and Skills has forced its will on councils at a time when the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has undertaken to provide authorities with new freedoms and flexibilities.
Beecham said he was 'appalled' by Clarke's decision to serve notices on Croydon and Westminster, and to call in 16 other councils that failed to increase their school budgets in line with ministers' expectations. 'What your proposal effectively does is to ringfence local resources raised from council tax.'
He added that authorities are planning to spend £100m more on education this year than the government's provision.
A DfES spokesman said: 'Councils should enjoy freedoms, but should not be free to underfund schools.'
PFfeb2003
