BARNSLEY’S schools have had to endure funding cuts totalling £16.7m since 2010, according to a fiery response to a question posed by a Liberal Democrat councillor.
Coun Hannah Kitching’s question about Barnsley Council’s recent visit to the Local Government Association conference in Bournemouth – submitted via full council and revealed this week – provoked a stern response which blamed the coalition government’s formation for the cuts, equivalent to £214 per pupil.
It added: “Councils in the north, and particularly Barnsley, have taken the biggest cuts. This was down to austerity and the Lib Dem/Tory coalition.
“Although the coalition has ended the cuts have not, but the Lib Dems were complicit in the start of austerity.
“School funding has received massive cuts since the coalition government was formed. We know that Barnsley’s schools have lost £16.7m, which equates to a loss of £214 per pupil.”
