Ed Miliband: Labour would protect education budget in real terms
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Version 0 of 1. Ed Miliband has pledged that a future Labour government would increase the £58bn education budget by at least as much as inflation – although any funding increases would have to absorb the costs of rising pupil numbers. Speaking at his old school on Thursday, Haverstock comprehensive in north London, Miliband said the overall budget would be protected in real terms, drawing comparison with the Conservative party’s recently announced policy to freeze per-pupil spending, which would amount to a real-terms cut. The policy announcement was intended to be more generous than that of the Conservatives, but critics have said it could actually amount to a cut because it does not take the growing number of school pupils in to account. Department for Education figures predict pupil numbers will rise at a higher rate than inflation. Sam Freedman, head of research at Teach First and former adviser to Michael Gove, calculated that Labour’s plans would amount to a 9.5% cut over the next parliament, compared with a 10.5% cut under Tory proposals. Labour is promising to protect the whole education budget – from nursery school to 19-years-old – whereas the Conservative’s proposals apply only to five- to 16-year-olds. Supporting education at times when there is a deficit to reduce means we will have to make tough decisions elsewhere In his speech, Miliband said: “If we are to act on the principle that education is the passport to success in life for individuals and our nation’s economy, we must be willing to invest. In the early years. In schools. And in further education. The next Labour government will protect the overall education budget.” Miliband appeared to admit that protecting the education budget might lead to cuts in other unprotected areas of government: “Of course, supporting education at times when there is a deficit to reduce means we will have to make tough decisions elsewhere.” He added: “There are two very different plans for Britain at this election. There is one plan – the Tory plan – that focuses on just a few, based on the idea that success will come from tax cuts for the wealthiest, stripping the rest of government back to the very bone, public spending at levels not seen since the 1930s. “And there is another plan – a Labour plan – that says we build long-term, enduring success for ourselves as a nation only when we support all working people.” Miliband reiterated his party’s plan to ensure all teachers are qualified and also promised to revive the central pledge at the heart of Tony Blair’s landslide election victory in 1997, that a Labour government would restore the cap on class sizes for children aged five, six and seven. He announced that his plan would be delivered by ending the practice of opening free schools, championed by the former Tory education secretary Michael Gove, in areas where there is a surplus of school places. Related: Ed Miliband's education package is less generous than some hoped The Labour leader said the coalition is directly to blame for a trebling in the number of classes with more than 30 pupils from 31,265 in 2010 to 93,345 in 2014, as a result of opening free schools in areas where new schools are not needed. This has added to pressure on oversubscribed schools. “Successful teaching and classroom discipline is made harder when classes are so much bigger,” he said. “Our plan will turn this round. “Currently, the government is spending money on new free schools in areas where there are surplus places. This simply makes no sense when class sizes are rising in the way they are or when people can’t get their kids into the good schools they want. “So by ending the scandalous waste of money from building new schools in areas of surplus places, we will create more places where they are needed. This will allow us to cap class sizes for five-, six- and seven-year-olds at no more than 30 pupils.” The Conservatives claimed Miliband’s education funding plans were less generous than the proposals announced by prime minister David Cameron earlier in February. “Ed Miliband today confirmed that under his policy Labour will spend less on schools than the Conservatives over the course of the next parliament,” a spokesman for the party said. “This incompetence and chaos from Ed Miliband shows exactly why he is simply not up to the job. “We can only have strong, well-funded schools by staying on the road to a stronger economy. Ed Miliband doesn’t have an economic plan, so the security of our schools’ future would be at risk under Labour.” The Conservatives claim their plans would mean £204.617bn of education spending over the next parliament, whereas Labour’s plans would amount to £204.027bn. |