SCHOOL leaders have blamed a lack of Government funding for cuts to balance their budgets.

Teachers’ union NAHT recently carried out a survey on funding and finances.

More than a third of school leaders surveyed by the union said they had already had to make cuts to balance their budgets and 35 per cent predicted they would have to make cuts this year.

More than a fifth of school leaders predicted a deficit budget in 2021/22 base on their current funding levels.

They blamed a lack of funding for SEND provision, an area of high demand, as well as costs associated with coronavirus safety regulations and supply cover.

Carlisle teacher and national executive member of the National Education Union, Louise Atkinson, said: “Funding for schools was really a crisis pre-Covid. Covid has created its own problems.”

“I know some schools are struggling to put the heating on. It’s absolutely appalling for one of the richest countries in the world.”

Cllr Atkinson is also a Labour member on Carlisle City Council.

“We really don’t need to be here," she said. "They’ve just repeatedly not listened. Schools are still waiting for CO2 monitors that were promised.

“We’ve got some of the most-crowded classrooms in Europe. They’re spreading the virus and the knock-on effect is teachers and support staff are catching it. They’re off work and having to isolate or really poorly in some cases, then you’ve got supply costs on top of that.”

Cllr Atkinson said that it was time to put schools first. “It should be the priority for children and young people, but it’s also the priority for our economic recovery.”

MP for Carlisle, John Stevenson, recently called on Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to extend the pupil premium in the upcoming spending review. Speaking to Schools Week, he said: “Cumbria has great schools and great teachers.

"But in spite of their best efforts, as is true across the north of England, many children here are trapped in a cycle of poor educational attainment.

“Through no fault of their own, they face a future of insecure, poorly paid employment. It’s bad for them, bad for the wider economy, and ultimately bad for their future children too. It’s a cycle that must be broken.

“To do this, we are calling on the government to put in place an expanded pupil premium. This extended funding would be targeted at all primary-age children from families whose household income falls under £24,400, benefiting 1.3 million more children, with northern regions receiving the most investment. This would cost an additional £2 billion, taking the total cost of the pupil premium from £2.4 billion (2020/21) to £4.4 billion.”