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Pre-school and further education may face cuts in spending review Pre-school and further education may face cuts in spending review
(about 11 hours later)
The education department has settled its departmental spending figures for 2015-16, David Laws, the schools minister, said at a public meeting on Wednesday. The education department has settled its spending figures for 2015-16, David Laws, the schools minister, has said.
According to two people present, Laws told the meeting organised by the IPPR thinktank that the department had reached a settlement for 2015-16. According to two people present, Laws told a meeting organised by the IPPR thinktank on Wednesday that the department had reached a settlement and he said he was pleased about the outcome for schools.
He claimed he was pleased about the outcome for schools, implying that the settlement for further education and pre-school learning may be less good. It had been suggested that the education department was willing to take a £2bn cut. This could imply that the settlement for further education and pre-school learning may be less good. It had been suggested that the education department was willing to take a £2bn cut.
Laws's aides denied that he said a settlement had been reached, and said instead that the department was "very, very close" to settling. Subsquently, Laws's aides denied that a 2015-16 settlement had in fact been reached and said, instead, that the department was "very, very close" to settling.
The education secretary, Michael Gove, had a commitment from the Treasury that the schools budgets would not be cut – important for Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, who has made extra funding for the pupil premium for children on free school meals one of his priorities.The education secretary, Michael Gove, had a commitment from the Treasury that the schools budgets would not be cut – important for Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, who has made extra funding for the pupil premium for children on free school meals one of his priorities.
It was suggested that the schools budget was likely to receive a flat-rate real-terms settlement. Clegg will be deeply disappointed if he has to accept a cut in the budget for two-year-old nursery education, another of his priorities. It was suggested that the schools budget was likely to receive a flat-rate settlement in real terms.
George Osborne, is due to publish the outcome of the 2015-16 spending review on Wednesday next week. The spending review is unusual for covering only one year and also settling budgets into the first year of the next parliament. However, if Clegg has had to accept cuts in pre-school spending, it will be deeply disappointing for the deputy prime minister, who has consistently said that nursery education is one of his priorities.
It is likely to see a big increase in capital spending. No official announcement was available from the education department or from the Treasury. George Osborne, the chancellor, is due to publish the outcome of the 2015-16 spending review next Wednesday.
David Cameron has promised that cuts to the Ministry of Defence budget will not mean any further cuts in manpower, and it is thought a settlement has been reached between the military and the Treasury. The spending review is unusual because it will cover only one year and settle budgets into the first year of the next parliament. It is likely to see a big increase in capital spending.
The outstanding issue is likely to be the business department led by Vince Cable, always seen as the most difficult department with which to reach agreement. Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, is close to agreeing a settlement for his £21bn budget that will see councils facing a cut of one-tenth, government sources confirmed. Pickles was among a series of cabinet ministers who were told in April by the Treasury to make a "planning assumption" that their budgets would be cut by 10%.
Cable is fiercely protective of his science, apprenticeship and higher education budgets, saying they are all central to the UK's industrial renaissance. He is also opposed in principle to ringfenced budgets in aid, health and schools, since it puts pressure on the budgets of unprotected departments. But the communities secretary is aiming to mitigate the effects of the cuts by taking control of as much as £3bn in spending from other departments.
The Liberal Democrats plan to make a jobs campaign one of their central issues in the runup to the general election campaign, and so will hardly be keen to see the business department budget slashed. The BBC reported that Pickles is expected to take greater control of the government's work in tackling troubled families, which is currently carried out by the Department for Education and the Department for Work and Pensions.
Cable at one point had been considering a direct appeal to the prime minister. In an attempt to defend his budget, Cable appointed Dalton Philips, the Morrisons chief executive, to carry out a review into efficiencies at his department and establish whether it could build on the £500m admin savings already made.
Cable claims his department has gone further and faster than other departments in reducing its cost base and achieving efficiencies. He says it is on course to achieve a 50% reduction across this parliament, equal to that of the education department, with 80% of the plans to achieve this already delivered.