ATL comment ahead of the Budget

Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said: "This Budget must address the skills time-bomb ministers have created. Proposed cuts in further education (FE) will devastate one of the most important sectors for the British economy but reversing this course is in the Chancellor's hands.

“Properly funding FE and vocational training supports young people whose talents lie outside a university route between education and work, and it addresses the call from the business community for greater skills development in education. Many people will continue to have multiple careers across their working lives and fully funded further education colleges are necessary to provide the retraining and skill development that will keep people in work. There is a false economy to these swingeing cuts and it couldn’t look less like the Government has a long-term economic plan.
 
"Well-planned public finances, fit for current circumstances, are essential. The Government's education and economic policies appear incompetent on crucial issues to parents, like school places and teacher supply. Any pledge to protect real terms spending on schools is meaningless if it doesn't account for an increasing pupil population."