Yesterday, I wrote a piece for a daily newspaper arguing that England’s schools do not require additional money in the upcoming Budget.

I was moved to write it by the growing - and thus far not effectively challenged - pleas from the school sector for more money. It is entirely understandable that parents might always err on the side of more cash for their children’s schools, but they need to understand that such money is ultimately theirs, as taxpayers. Ensuring money already allocated is effectively spent ought to be paramount before any new money arrives.

Although it is worth bearing in mind the Department for Education has already found £1.3 billion extra for the new National Funding Formula since the general election.

On the same day my piece hit the newsstands, it could be found alongside a Daily Mirror front page emblazoned “Schools beg parents to pay for pens and glue”, reporting that schools in the Prime Minister’s constituency of Maidenhead have written to parents requesting nearly £200 to cover basic costs.

When asked about this on stage at the National Association of School Business Managers (NASBM) conference in Birmingham, Schools Minister, Nick Gibb responded: “It’s not right for schools to be asking parents for money for the basics that are funded by taxpayers’ money.”

Gibb is, of course, correct: the school system has surpluses amounting to £4 billion.

Unethical and irresponsible

It is clearly possible for schools funded by the taxpayer - far more generously than a generation ago, as I highlighted in my own piece - to keep within budget and indeed to save sensibly. They should certainly not be risking spreading shame and embarrassment throughout their own communities, as parents either can’t or won’t cough up, by asking for money to cover materials that schools should purchase.

It is not only unnecessary, it borders on the unethical and irresponsible and reveals a worrying lack of oversight and governance at the schools concerned.

The next time parents receive a letter asking for money to fund anything other than the usual extras, such as trips or musical instrument lessons, they should question when the school last reviewed their staffing structure, especially the pay and functions of senior leadership.

Not to say that high pay here is a problem - senior staff doing a good job are worth a good salary - but they should be able to demonstrate that. 

Asking questions

Has your school had a 25 per cent growth in assistant heads over the past six years? Did it need it?

Ask the governors which soft federation of schools or which multi-academy trust it is currently in negotiation to join to seek their support and investment in reducing costs and expanding provision.

Ask at what point in the budget setting process they realised they were going to need to make inappropriate requests of parents for money - before or after the DfE guaranteed them additional funds for the next two years?

Ask them whether or not they have written to the Treasury and the DfE asking them to resist the teacher trade unions’ eye-watering 5 per cent pay increase demand for teaching staff.

Ask them what training programmes they’ve sent their teaching assistants (TAs) on and how they measure their effectiveness.

Schools might also widen their horizons of comparison.

The headcount of the British Civil Service is 19 per cent lower than in 2010. Between 2009 and 2016, police numbers came down 14 per cent. These and other areas of the public sector have found it necessary to undertake reform to meet their obligations, all while schools were protected from cuts - and continue to be so.

The leaders and governors of our schools ought to make the most of their good fortune to apply some realism to their financial planning.

John David Blake is head of education at Policy Exchange

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