Clause 39 - Determination of specified budgets of LEA
Education Bill
6:00 pm
Mr Phil Willis (Harrogate and Knaresborough, Liberal Democrat)
I prefer not to say, because that is not my point. Passporting is not the big issue that the Government and the Minister think it is, because that dragon has already been slain. That was not a Welsh accusation, by the way, Mr. Griffiths.
We should abandon the idea of proposed and actual budgets. Schools need to know when the authority has completed its consultations, in which a school forum will now be involved. Once the consultations are concluded, the school requires to know the School Teachers Pay Review Board's recommendation. For most authorities, teachers' pay accounts for between 73 and 80 per cent. of the education budget. Once that amount is known, elected members can debate what the level of council tax will be and, ultimately, the level of resources allocated to schools. I prefer finality rather than lots of different processes. Authorities already have a process, as the hon. Member for West Bromwich, West pointed out, in which there is an elongated period of uncertainty between the provisional and the actual RSG. To extend that further would be unrealistic.
If the Minister will not agree to my proposals, despite the fact that the Local Government Association feel that my timetable is feasible and achievable, will he consider putting the STPRB conclusions back a month? That would allow local
authorities to have the STPRB results while they were debating their RSG. If they had that information, it would not matter whether the Minister wanted a draft or a final version by the end of January.
I shall not press the amendment to a Division, but the Minister should be realistic about the certainties that schools need and about his expectations of local authorities. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Clause 39, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.