Liberal Democrat County Councillors have launched a petition to fight against school funding cuts in Surrey. This follows recent figures published by the National Union of Teachers which show that schools in Surrey will lose £37 million in real terms by 2020.

Current levels of funding in Surrey are not enough if schools are to manage the new cost pressures that they face such as increases in National Insurance and a new tax to pay for apprenticeships.

In addition, the County Council is being squeezed by the Conservative Government’s 75% cut in the funding it uses to support school improvements and provide local schools with music lessons, ICT equipment and accounting advice.

As a result, schools across the county are considering drastic cost-cutting proposals, including increasing class sizes and reducing the number of teachers and teaching assistants. One school has even warned of a four day school week,

This is why we have launched the petition calling for the Government to increase funding for Surrey schools to protect them from the need to make damaging cuts in the face of reduced funding and increasing costs over the next three years.

The petition can be signed at: https://surreylibdems.org.uk/en/petition/stop-school-cuts-in-surrey