Tories Cut Staff Handling Primary School Crisis (South East Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats)

South East Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats <info@secambslibdems.org.uk>

Tories Cut Staff Handling Primary School Crisis

February 10, 2010 7:55 PM

Cambridgeshire Tories have failed to predict the number of children needing primary school places; yet they are planning to cut jobs in the department that is handling the crisis.

The move to reduce staff in the schools organisation and planning office comes as the Tories struggle to deal with a massive black hole in Cambridgeshire County Council's finances.

But furious Lib Dems fear that the ill-thought out decision will make matters worse. In a bid to highlight the problem, they have promised £740,000 in their alternative budget to reverse the cuts.

Lucy Nethsingah, Lib Dems' Spokesperson for Children and Young People said: "The county council's poor planning has left it facing a huge crisis in providing primary school places from next year. Having failed to plan for the increase in demand it has already admitted that many children will be taught in mobile classrooms next year.

"The idea that the Tory administration at Shire Hall now plans to cut jobs in the very department which has to deal with this crisis is crazy.

"We need to ensure that proper classrooms are provided for these children as swiftly as possible and without reducing the facilities available to children already at school.

We cannot allow our children to bear the burden of the Tories' financial mistakes. They are hitting some of the most vulnerable members of our communities because they got their sums wrong."

The Lib Dems have proposed an alternative budget which offers £20 million more for priority services across the county over the next two years.

It includes saving £1.75 million by restructuring school transport and offers £500,000 for climate change and energy saving projects in schools.