A LEADING member of a teachers’ union has raised serious concerns over the impact cuts to funding are having on schools in the area.

Chris Brooksbank, Cumbria’s regional secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) said the cuts to school funding are having a ‘dramatic impact’ on schools.

He said: “I was talking to a school case worker who said their school was preparing to cut 50 per cent of their teaching support staff."

Mr Brooksbank said as a result of the funding cuts, schools are forced to take a variety of measures.

He said: “Schools are not able to offer such a wide breadth of subjects.

“The quality of education falls and there is also less support for special needs.

“The support currently being offered just won’t be there.

“Although cuts to funding are having a huge impact, each individual schools are trying to represent themselves best they can. They put on a brave face.”

Barrow and Furness independent MP John Woodcock said: “Since 2010 there has been a steady reduction in the funding that many schools are receiving from government and this is having predictable consequences for our children.

“Head teachers, governors and parents are doing their best to minimise the impact in the classroom but there is only so much they can do before teaching posts are threatened and children really start to lose out.

“Everyone understands that money is tight, but cutting funding to schools is the wrong priority.

"I have collaborated with many people in our communities to close the attainment gap and our schools will have my support in lobbying government to give our children and their families the education provision they deserve.”

This comes after 16 head teachers from the Kendal Collaborative Partnership sent a joint letter to parents, urging them to support a campaign pressing the Government for an urgent increase in funding.

Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, said: “We’ve got to a breaking point now, a point of immense frustration which has led to headteachers who would normally have dutifully got on with the job, to now speak out.

“The letter from the head teachers to parents is a brave, unprecedented thing to do and they deserve for us to take notice and they deserve the Government to take notice — we must listen.

“Any country’s assets are its people and especially its young people. So, to underfund our schools in this way is not just cruel but it’s also incredibly stupid in undervaluing that which is our greatest asset. Investment in our education is an investment in our country’s future.”

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: “While there is more money going into our schools than ever before we know schools face budgeting challenges, which is why we have introduced a wide range of support to help schools reduce costs and get the best value from their resources.

“School funding in England is at its highest ever level and since 2017 the government has given every local authority in England more money for every pupil in every school, allocating the biggest increases to the schools that have been most underfunded and in the last year we have also announced an extra £400m of capital funding for schools from the Treasury.

“On revenue funding, schools in Cumbria will receive an increase of 3.2 per cent per pupil by 2019-20, compared to 2017-18.

“This is equivalent to an extra £11.1 million when rising pupil numbers are also taken into account.

The Furness Education Consortium, a group consisting of staff from schools across the area, met on Tuesday to discuss the impact of funding cuts on schools across Furness.

A statement from the FEC is expected to be released in the coming days.