TAKE A LONG, HARD LOOK AT THE TORIES' PLANS FOR SCHOOLS

Ed Balls MP, Labour's Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, is today urging people to take a long, hard look at the Tories' plans for schools.

Key points

Ed Balls is challenging the Tories to come clean on how they will pay for their two flagship schools policies - new ‘free market' schools and a national ‘pupil premium'.

Ed Balls said:"Labour's Pre-Budget Report made clear that while there will be tough decisions to halve the deficit within four years, we will protect frontline funding for our priorities, including schools, Sure Start and 16-19 education."But there is an unresolved conflict in the Conservatives' plans for education: while George Osborne is applying a downward pressure to the budget for the Department for Children, Schools and Families, Michael Gove's two flagship policies - new ‘free market' schools and a national pupil premium - apply an upward pressure on costs. How can this circle be squared?

"Michael Gove refuses to say, but what is clear is that his options are limited: the costs of these two policies run into billions and those billions must come from cuts within the DCSF budget. The challenge being se t to Michael Gove today is to identify what he intends to cut in order to fund his two flagship policies. It's time for the Tories to come clean."

Earlier today, Ed Balls set out to Parliament further details of funding for schools up to 2013, following the Pre-Budget Report announcement that funding for Labour's frontline priorities will be protected, including schools, Sure Start and 16-19 education.

We will make tough choices and savings across the non-settled areas of the DCSF budget, e.g. from arms length bodies such as Becta; and ending start-up funding for extended services now that 95 per cent of schools already offer access to them.
In contrast, George Osborne has made clear that no part of the DCSF budget will be protected from his plans to cut the deficit further and faster than Labour. But from a smaller overall budget, Michael Gove has made two expensive policy commitments which he needs to fund:

1. The Conservatives' "free market schools" policy will require hundreds of millions of pounds of additional revenue funding, each year.

2. The Conservatives' policy of a national ‘pupil premium', if it is not to take money from existing schools, will require, potentially, billions of pounds of additional funding each year.

It is now time for Michael Gove to come clean: how much will his two flagship policies cost and where will the funding come from? What will he cut to pay for them?