CASH-strapped Swindon schools fear government funding freezes will harm children’s education.

Following rumours of a dispute between Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs over proposals to raise teachers’ salaries in line with inflation, it has emergaed schools will have to find thousands of pounds in savings over the next two years to meet the demands of government cuts and freezes.

Swindon schools are already among the lowest funded authorities across the country, and there are fears further savings will have a practical impact on the quality of education.

Clive Zimmerman, headteacher of Lydiard Park Academy (LPA), said: “All of which means that my school will be over a quarter of a million pounds worse off within the next two years, and I don’t think LPA is the worst hit by any means from what I hear from colleagues.

“Schools in areas that have been better funded, which is most of the country, are better placed to absorb these cuts.

“However, when you’re in one of the 40 lowest funded authorities and have had no fat to trim for years there’s nothing left to cut that doesn’t have a direct effect on pupils.”

Several months ago Schools Minister David Laws announced the 40 lowest funded authorities would receive a further £350m cash, essentially increasing their budgets for pupil premium by four per cent.

But it was then decided to reduce the extra grants schools get for being academies – spent on buying services the school provided as a community school.

For Lydiard Park Academy this meant practically half the money they would receive from the additional grant was automatically taken away by the cut in the grant funding.

Meanwhile, the national pay review body has recommended a one per cent increase on the lowest extremities in the salary band and a two per cent increase in the highest, which have to be met by schools.

Schools also have to fund increased national insurance and pensions contributions.

North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson said: “We have significantly increased education funding, in general, the pupil premium and an extra £148 per pupil in Swindon through the fairer funding formula we have secured.

“As the economy continues to recover after Labour’s great recession we will start to see public sector wages, including teachers’, start to rise.”

South Swindon MP Robert Buckland said: “Justin and I have supported the campaign to achieve fairer funding for Swindon, an issue the previous government failed to deal with.”