Government cuts to school budgets would remove £6 million from Putney schools, according to projections from the National Union of Teachers (NUT).

The NUT has compiled figures based on published Department for Education (DfE) data to calculate cuts to England’s primary and secondary schools over this Parliament (2015-2020) using the 2015/2016 funding as a baseline.

The NUT estimate that schools in Putney will lose £5,994,867 or roughly 13 per cent of their current budgets over the next four years.

The DfE has said the projections are "scaremongering" and that the figures are speculatative. 

A DfE spokesperson said: "It’s unfair and confusing for parents, pupils and schools themselves.

“We are due to publish a new fairer funding formula, and as the NUT and ATL admit, their speculative figures do not take that into account.

 “In reality the schools budget has been protected and in 2016-17 totals over £40billion, the highest ever on record.”

However Labour say the cuts are based on previous actions by the Conservative government and would mean the equivalent to £740 per Putney pupil.

Labour’s Education spokesperson and Cllr for Roehampton Jeremy Ambache said: “The Government plans to cut almost £6m from schools in Putney by 2020.

“This is equivalent to losing 162 full time teacher posts and will have serious adverse consequences for the education of local children.

“I appeal to Justine Greening – the Education Secretary –to stand up for her Putney constituents and to protect schools in her constituency by opposing these cuts”.   

Wandsworth Times:
Labour Cllrs Jeremy Ambache and Peter Carpenter 

Last March the Government announced its ‘fairer school funding plan’, to be introduced in April 2018, with an aim to tackle uneven levels of school funding across the UK.

Although the announcement was made eight months ago, the details of the formulae have yet to materialize.  

On November 16, one week ahead of the Autumn Statement, the NUT released a list of the 'top 100 mps worst hit by school cuts'- Putney was 27, Battersea 48, and Tooting 52. 

The Putney schools likely to be worst hit include:

Ashcroft Technical Academy which stands to lose £984,927 or 14 per cent of its current budget, equivalent to £995 per pupil or 26 full time teachers.

Heathmere Primary School in Roehampton, which stands to lose £231,656, or 15 per cent of its current budget, equivalent to £864 per pupil or 6 full time teachers.

Brandlehow Primary School which stands to lose £205,249, or 15 per cent of its current budget, equivalent to £693 per pupil or 5 full time teachers.

According to the figures, 81 per cent in Putney and 88 per cent of schools in the borough of Wandsworth overall are expected to be affected by the cuts with the local authority losing an estimated £17,635,757 by 2020.

This could mean the loss of 473 teachers and £660 per pupil.

Leader of Wandsworth Council Ravi Govindia has also dismissed the figures as "invention" and urged parents and schools to remain calm.

He said: "Local parents and schools in Wandsworth can rest assured we will play a positive role in the forthcoming consultation and continue to press the case for a good and fair financial deal for our schools.”

However, according to the NUT: “We estimate that 92 per cent of schools [in the UK] could face cuts in their funding per pupil in real terms over the next four years, with no local authority – and no MP – set to gain overall, even after the redistributive impact of the Government’s ‘fair funding’ proposals have been taken into account."

To find out how much your local school could be affected go to schoolcuts.org.uk.

Using the formulae launched by the NUT and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), the website anticipates how individual schools across the country might be affected.