Cash is not enough

Leading county councillors have said the money, equivalent to just under £2 million over the next two years, is not enough.

A £350 million national package was recently announced by Education Secretary Damian Hinds.

But a meeting of the county council’s Labour and Liberal Democrat-controlled cabinet was told that the sum had already been spent.

County council cabinet member for education, Cllr Sue Sanderson, gave a cautious welcome and council leader Stewart Young said the sum “won’t change anything”.

Cllr Sanderson (Lib Dem, Cartmel) said: “I do feel really pleased but without being churlish, it is still not enough. We will get some of the money in 2019-20 and some in 2020-21. It includes being able to put specialist places into mainstream schools, training for teachers which is a big area, and other initiatives to support special education needs.

“On a personal note, we have worked very hard at lobbying government for this. I have personally been on a demonstration about it.

She added: “What I learned was that it included governors, parents, pupils, schools, councils, professional associations, MPs and the lords. They were all saying the same thing – that this side of education, special education needs, is crippling local authorities.”

Source: Cash is not enough | The Mail