Lib-Dem Response to Wokingham District Council Budget - Education Settlement
February 24, 2006 12:00 AM
Wokingham Liberal Democrats welcomed the generous Government settlement for Education. The settlement amounts to a 7.7% increase over last year's grant.
Councillor Beth Rowland (Lib Dem Spokesperson for Education and Councillor for South Lake ward), said, "Luckily for our District's schools, the Government is giving the 7.7% increase in grant for education, one of the highest in the country, directly to our schools. This is good news, especially following the shock report that education standards have fallen over the past year, with fewer pupils gaining GCSE A* - C levels, and our schools dropping 20 places in the national league table.
"Although Frank Browne (Tory Leader of Wokingham District Council) can't get his hands on the education funding this year, his apparent determination to undermine our education standards comes in the form of reducing the amount of essential maintenance to our school buildings. Frank has now budgeted for a reduction of £3 million over his three budgets."
Beth Rowland referred to Frank Browne's reduction in school maintenance as "Frank's school bucket fund", a reference to the buckets the schools use to deal with leaking roofs. The Liberal Democrats handed Frank Browne a bucket which had previously been passed around the Liberal Democrat Group for "a whip round for a few coppers to get Frank's bucket fund started."
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