SEELB Funding

antrim | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis Monday July 24, 2006 23:24 by Roger C - NIPSA517

Somewhat confused!!!

Can anyone explain what all the penny pinching and panicing has been about? This year the Department of Education has UNDER SPENT by £68 million!!!!!

I have been at two board meetings where the Department of Education were trying to impose an unrealistic and totally inadequate budget. While wielding the big stick with the threat of bringing in commissioners, they even had the nerve to offer a "Sop" of a bit more money as long as the cuts were introduced. the news today shows just how pathetic and insulting that offer was. In opposing the cuts we were calling for a "Needs based" budget. Everyone knew that the money was there it was just a case of where the Governments priorities lay. We all assumed we were in for a long and hard fight to force the Government to release more money. Given their heartless and cynical track record I thought it would be like getting "Blood from a stone" Then todays "Bombshell" The Department of Education has under spent this year by £68 million. At the risk of sounding stupid here, am I missing something?? or would other people agree that if you have £68 million that you haven't spent, talk of cutting services in order to save a couple of million doesn't make sense!! Putting it slightly more pointedly. To try and cut services to special needs children while sitting on £68 million is totally unacceptable and in fact obscene !!!!
Where was this money going to go? How can a Department that continually gives the impression of being "Cash strapped" be sitting on so much money? A Minister gave assurances that the money wouldn't go out of N Ireland, but what I want to know why the money wasn't allocated in the proper manner as it was intended, to provide a decent education system without the spectre of cuts hanging over it.