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6.12 pm
Mr. Simon Burns (West Chelmsford): May I thank the hon. Member for Braintree (Mr. Hurst), my neighbour, for allowing me to take part in this debate which refers to a matter of importance not only to mid-Essex but to the entire county? I found little with which to disagree in his elegant speech, which was equally interesting in terms of what he did not say, quite apart from what he did say.
A serious problem is affecting the whole county, but it is focused on mid-Essex, because, as the hon. Member for Braintree said, he has a Catholic secondary school in his constituency, and I have a Catholic secondary school in my constituency, St. John Payne school. Great concern has been expressed by parents, teachers and governors of both schools about the proposals by Essex county council that are currently out to consultation. I, too, have met both pupils and representatives of the teaching staff of St. John Payne school, and have had an opportunity to discuss their concerns with them and to learn at first hand about the proposals. I have also received many letters about those proposals. They pose a significant problem and if there is a way around it that avoids school transport being withdrawn from denominational schools, all of us in the Chamber would obviously be united in agreement that that is how we would want the process to end.
There is a problem, however, to which my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend, East (Sir Teddy Taylor) alluded earlier in an intervention: the formula for funding local government finance was changed for this financial year, and it had a significant impact on the county of Essex. As I understand it, the average increase in local government finance this year was just over 5.5 per cent. Essex got the third worst settlement, just ahead of Kent and Sussex, with 3.5 per cent.
As the Minister and the hon. Member for Braintree know, the significant majority of a local authority's budget is spent on education and there are specific requirements on that spending that must be fulfilled. As Essex county council received only a 3.5 per cent. funding increase, it had significantly less money to provide its services than it did the previous year. Owing to the statutory requirements on its education spending, it had considerable problems funding other services, such as social services. Ironically, it did not have sufficient money for its education budget either and had to decide the best way forward when it was faced with that problem. The council wants to avoid cutting back on teaching staff or spending for books and equipment in our schools, so it has examined its transport budget. Colleagues and county councillors have given me no inkling that the Government are prepared to think again, but perhaps the Minister will give us some good news during his speech. In the light of the consultations and representations, however, I hope that a solution will be found so that some of the problems that the hon. Member for Braintree rightly raised will not be realised. I hope that the council will be able to come up with a solution.
The simple way in which we could get around the problem and secure proper funding for the county council would be for the Government to re-examine the funding formula for Essex and ensure that they rectify the fiddling that many people in local government and Conservative Members believe to have happened. There is a strong body of opinion that the formula was changed solely to take money away from the shire counties that, ironically, tend not to be controlled by Labour so that it could be pushed into Labour heartlands to try to stave off any problems in the local election last May when the party faced re-election.
The Minister for School Standards (Mr. David Miliband): Disgraceful.
Mr. Burns: The Minister may say that that is disgraceful, but he goes around the country a lot and must talk to local education authorities throughout England. He must be aware that there is a school of thought that the situation that I outlined is why the funding formula was changed.
If we are to prevent the problems faced by Essex county council from happening, the Minister should use his not inconsiderable influence to encourage the Government to re-examine the basic funding formula and ensure that Essex county council gets a fair funding increase so that it is able to provide education services. That would have a knock-on effect on other services, which would mean that it would not have to take extremely difficult decisions such as that on which it is consulting. I hope that a compromise can be reached that will put off the implementation of the policy.
Andrew Mackinlay (Thurrock): There is little point in arguing party political points this evening. Does the hon. Gentleman understand the gravity of the situation for the continuation of Catholic education? If the policy were sustained, Catholic schools would change beyond all recognition within a generation—there would be none left. That is the gravity of the situation, so the matter should be a priority for Essex county council, as it is for other hard-pressed authorities.
Mr. Burns: I thought I had made it plain that I hope the proposals do not come to fruition. I fully accept and recognise that they will have an impact, which for some families will be significant, on all denominational education, which in my constituency is primarily Catholic. I assume the hon. Gentleman, like me, fully supports the concept of denominational education.
Andrew Mackinlay: I am a beneficiary of it.
Mr. Burns: I am glad to hear it.
I understand why the hon. Gentleman says that the matter is not a party political issue, but he misses the point. The nub of the problem is the local government finance settlement, which was particularly detrimental to the county of Essex, as it was to Kent and Sussex, when the money arrived in April this year.
6.20 pm
Sir Teddy Taylor (Rochford and Southend, East): I remind the Minister and the hon. Member for Braintree (Mr. Hurst) that the problem has a great effect on my constituency and other places in Essex. Southend has two Catholic schools, St. Thomas More, which is a school for boys, and St. Bernard's, which is a school for girls. A substantial number of pupils come across the border from Essex county council, which we have escaped from, to go to our schools. We also have four grammar schools, two for boys and two for girls, which hon. Members know about.
Children come from Essex to attend our schools because it is well known that the standard of education generally in Southend is high compared with neighbouring areas. A huge number of children want to come to Southend first, for the good education, secondly, for the grammar schools and the two good Catholic schools and thirdly, for their traditions. The
hon. Member for Braintree made a good point about the effect of the proposals on poor families. That is encouraging. I hope that we unite against legislation on top-up fees because of their effect on poor families.There is a big problem, which the Minister can resolve. Yesterday morning, I took the head teacher of that splendid school in Southend, St. Thomas More, and others to meet the Minister. They told him the terrible things that were happening in Southend. Does the hon. Member for Braintree, who takes a great interest in Southend, know that for the first time we are having to discontinue the teaching of Latin, not because we want to or because it is horrible, but because there is not enough money? Not only has Southend-on-Sea borough council spent every penny the Minister provided, but it has been given an extra £700,000 on top because of the financial crisis it faces. Despite that extra money, a teacher called Mr. Gulley from Temple Sutton school told the Minister yesterday that he had to sack teachers because the necessary money was not available.
The Minister must know, on the basis of what happened yesterday and what he has heard today, that Essex county council and Southend-on-Sea borough council have to contemplate doing horrible things that they do not want to do simply because the money is not available. Why is the money not available and why are they thinking of introducing such strange plans? First, the pay scale has been shortened, so teachers have to be paid more in a shorter time. Secondly, the increase in superannuation payments has not been fully funded by the Government. Thirdly, there are national insurance increases to consider. All those mean that the county and the borough have to consider doing things that they do not want to do.
Let us solve the problem that faces the parents of children going to Catholic schools in Essex and the splendid ones in Southend-on-Sea. The only way to do that, however, is to find a financial solution. There is no other way. We could put the rates up, but we have already done that. The Minister must be aware that the poor ratepayers in Southend and Essex have been hammered. I am sure that we could do a deal. I am sure that if the hon. Member for Braintree, my hon. Friend the Member for West Chelmsford and I told the county council that, despite the appalling financial settlement, the Minister had announced in an Adjournment debate that he was providing an extra £2 million for the county of Essex, the proposals would be dropped and a comprehensive, sensible arrangement would be agreed.
I am sure that, like me, hon. Members believe that the proposals that the council is considering are not advantageous. As has happened in Southend, the financial difficulties would stop educational training and prevent us from getting good teachers. If the Minister tells us that he will provide an extra £2 million for the county, I am sure that we can meet the county officials and councillors and solve the problem. The only thing that worries me a wee bit is the fact that people may play at politics. I hope that that will not happen, because it is in children's interests that we find solutions.
We have good Catholic secondary schools in Southend, and want to preserve the opportunity for the people of Essex, with all their problems, to come to our excellent schools. It would be tragic if they were
prevented from doing so. The Minister alone can solve the problem. If Members from all parties presented a popular front we could resolve this with our friends from Essex, if only the Minister were sensible and gave the county a fairer deal, as he has done for other counties.
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