Education budget delay criticised

NEWS ARTICLE from DUP website 1st April 2010

Education Minister making April Fools of schools

Assembly Education Committee member Michelle McIlveen has criticised the Minister of Education for causing chaos as a result of her failure to provide them with budgets in time for the new financial year. The DUP spokesperson for children and young people, said:

"This unprecedented predicament, whereby a new financial year is starting without proper budgets being given to schools and education boards, is utterly unacceptable. I recently criticised Caitriona Ruane for leaving it later and later each year to deliver these budgets, but by failing to produce even by March 31 she has created a serious situation rather than mere inconvenience and last-minute panic.

One of a number of worrying consequences is that dozens of frontline staff whose posts are subject to the continuation of earmarked funding have not known until this week whether or not they will have a job after March 31. I understand that those in this position have now been written to by their employers indicating that they will be employed for April anyway - but, like everyone else, the Education Boards are in the dark as to what will happen thereafter as the Minister has made no decisions in relation to earmarked funding.

This is no way to treat dedicated staff, who are providing valuable and important services. It is also no way to run an education system, especially at a time of acute budgetary pressures. At a time when there is such pressure on resources, proper planning and prudent management are essential if maximum efficiencies are to be achieved - but Boards and schools are being given no chance to apply the rigorous processes they would wish to. Special dispensations have had to be given to allow Boards to continue beyond March 31 and draw down an interim allocation of funding in the absence of a proper budget for the new financial year. Boards have been given an initial allocation equating to a quarter of last year's opening recurrent budget and an additional sum for minor works - accompanied by a warning from the Department of Education that this allocation may in no way reflect the overall funding picture for the new financial year!

As Boards have been unable, through no fault of their own, to complete their formal resource allocation planning process, DE has simply sought written assurances from Chief Executives that they will, in effect, act responsibly until further notice. Placing the onus on Education Boards to essentially muddle through is inimical to proper planning and contrary to the principles and practice of good governance. Meanwhile, even though the new financial year is now here, the budgetary information received so far by schools has been negligible at best. Being left in the dark will delay any decisions which may have to be made in relation to redundancies and so forth - which of course also have implications for the individuals involved.

"The upshot is that, on the first day of the new financial year, I can only conclude that the Minister is making April Fools of our education professionals and support staff who will bear the brunt of this shameful shambles and suffer further erosion of their morale."