Under the Tories, our education system is crumbling.

Underfunded and underappreciated, twelve years of Conservative cuts have left our schools desperately trying to make ends meet.

Teachers and support staff give up their free time and energy to provide the best possible learning environment for children. Their work should not be undervalued.

As a former teacher, I know how challenging the school day can be and teachers across Barnsley have my huge admiration and thanks.

Under this Government, we are seeing far too many teachers leaving the profession, with a recent NEU poll suggesting that 44% of teachers plan on leaving within the next 5 years, with many saying that their workload has become unmanageable. As teachers are leaving, schools are finding it difficult to fund replacements meaning that many teachers are left with double the workload for no extra pay.

I recently met with Hoyland Common Academy Trust to discuss the difficulties that they are facing. The Government are making forward financial planning almost impossible by not informing schools of their financial settlements until the last minute, and whilst the recent teacher pay rise was very welcome, no extra money from Government left them with a financial hole to fill, which alongside increasing SEND costs and a 400% rise in energy costs has left them with very limited reserves and difficult decisions to make.

Barnsley deserves better.

The Chancellor announced £2.3 billion of additional funding in 2023/24 and 2024/25 for schools in his Autumn Statement, which is of course welcome at face value. But the reality is that this funding will do little more than cover the astronomical extra costs schools are forced to pay, many of these a result of skyrocketing energy bills.

There are lots of good schools across Barnsley with dedicated staff, but Barnsley is an area with higher need and lower investment and that is why government support must be increased.

The OBR predicts that the country will remain in in recession for 2 years so pressures on schools and indeed across society will only increase.

I have written to the Secretary of State for Education about the pressures schools in Barnsley are facing and will continue to raise the challenges in Parliament.