Dr Mr Hunt,
I know that difficult decisions have to be made regarding the nation's finances. I appreciate that you have been working hard to find solutions to the issues caused by 12 years of Conservative leadership, Brexit, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. I am sure you will agree that all of these have had a big impact upon our current financial position. Whilst some of these are global difficulties, some are also British only problems based on poor political decisions. Due to these decisions, the poorest in society are struggling, public services are crumbling and the rich, somehow, appear to be getting richer.
I am not an economist (neither are you by the way if your three failed start ups exporting marmalade to Japan are anything to go by) and I do not profess to know the answers to the problems that are currently blighting our country. However, what I do know, is that the proposals I have read about in the press today are not the answer. I understand your desire to "plug" the nation's financial black hole, but this is you treating the public purse like a home budget. This is not the way to look at it. The £50 billion that you are trying to fill, does not need to be filled today, tomorrow or in a decade. It needs to be incrementally worn away. It is like having a credit card and saying I am not going to pay my mortgage, feed my children and pay my bills this month so that I can say I do not have a credit card any more. That is just not the way the world works.
The devastation that your planned tax measures will have on our country will be astronomical. By freezing income tax bands, you will automatically extend the cost of living crisis for millions of people far longer than it needs to be. If inflation stays at this rate, people's real terms income will be reduced by 10% next year just on the fact that pay rises will be lower and taxes will increase. I do appreciate you say that the people with the broadest shoulders will pay more. I hope this means that there will be a wealth tax on billionaires, that non-dom status will be ended, that there will be additional windfall taxes on oil companies and the banks, that there will be an increase in corporation tax, that tax loopholes will be closed and that second homes (third homes, fourth homes etc,) will be taxed at a higher rate. However, I do not hold my breath for these actions to be taken.
Now, moving onto the public sector. This is where you have made the worst error in judgement. Our public services cannot cope with any further reduction in income. I have been working in schools since 2005 and I have seen first hand the impact that austerity in 2010 did to schools. Due to these measures, schools have had to strip everything back and we are still struggling. The planned freeze you propose (with potential future cuts) will break schools and we will not be able to continue to function. The impact of cuts so far on my school:
- Reduced staffing - we are currently on the lowest possible amount of staffing to run my school effectively
- Fewer resources
- Fewer extra curricular activities
- Less spending on the building upkeep
- Not replacing broken equipment
If you cut it further, my school will break.
- If I reduce staffing either further, there will not be any additional support for children, so the disadvantaged gap will increase. Children will not achieve what they should, and this is not the fault of my teaching team.
- If I reduce staffing further, children will be at risk of safeguarding issues. Support staff are usually the first point of contact when children are having difficulties at home. They identify the changes in behaviour, they build strong relationships and they are trusted adults. Without these amazing people working in schools, I am certain things will slip through the cracks. Also, alongside this, there will be further reductions in social care support, meaning even more pressure on schools.
- If I reduce staffing further, I cannot guarantee the safety of children at school, due to the reduced number of adults available to help in school with issues such as first aid, supervision and pastoral care.
- If I reduce the amount of resources further, the children will not have exercise books to write in, they will not have resources to bring the curriculum to life and they will not have the basics needed for learning.
- If I reduce extra-curricular activities further, there will be no more school trips, no more after school clubs and no visitors into school.
- If I spend less on the building, it will break and I will lose teaching spaces. I will not be able to repair the boiler if it breaks, I will not be able to fix broken window handles, or lights or paint the school. This will ultimately cost the government more money as they will need to pay for the upkeep the estate.
If I do not replace broken equipment, the children will not have resources at break time, they will not have PE equipment, they will not have interactive whiteboards, they will not have resources for science lessons.
The decisions you are making are resulting in this happening up and down the country. You are sentencing thousands of children to a sub-standard level of education, you are burning out teachers and breaking the state education system. I know what it is like to make hard decisions, but the first question I ask myself is "What is the impact on the children?" If it is negative, I will not go ahead with the decision. You have time to change course and protect the future of our children and I implore you to do so.
Yours sincerely,
Censored Head