14 March 2003
The Department for Education and Skills has accused the London Borough of Croydon of needlessly withholding money from schools.
In a funding row that shows no signs of abating, Croydon and Westminster City Council thought they had escaped attempts by Education Secretary Charles Clarke to overrule their decisions on how much funding they give to schools.
In a compromise last week, the government offered each council an extra £1m. Westminster pledged to set aside an extra £2m for schools while Croydon said it would add a further £1m.
However, the row escalated this week when it became clear that Croydon was still not passing on the full percentage increase to schools.
Head teachers in the borough said they were considering a judicial review of the education budget-setting process, which they claim is 'educational suicide' for the borough. They claim that schools need an extra £10m to fund the government's education programme.
Officials at the DfES said the fact that Croydon has chosen not to pass on all of the increase in funding to schools was a local decision. A department spokeswoman said Croydon's schools budget had received a £1m increase. 'Had they passed that on in full, schools would have received an extra million. There is no need for schools to resort to this action.'
Croydon Headteachers' Association chair Richard Ford told Public Finance: 'The net result, as far as we can ascertain, is that only an additional £250,000 will be shared out, giving secondary schools £3,000 and primaries £4,000.'
He warned that schools would be forced to make teachers redundant or put all pupils on a four-day week. Council officials said the heads' action was unnecessary.
PFmar2003
