Policy and Politics
Children's Workforce Development Council loses £15m, but Sure Start keeps funding
The Children's Workforce and Development Council (CWDC) is to have its budget slashed by £15m over the next year after being named as one of the first victims of Government cuts. Sure Start holds on to its existing funding, however.
The CWDC is one of a number of organisations that will see its funding cut as part of the Government's bid to find £6bn in savings over the next 12 months, of which £670m will be from the Department of Education (DfE).
Details of the cuts were laid out at a press conference on Monday by chancellor George Osborne and chief secretary to the Treasury David Laws.
A spokesperson from the CWDC said, 'We are working closely with DfE officials to determine how these £15 million of cuts will affect us and how we can continue to achieve the very best for children and young people.'
Becta, the Government's technology agency for schools, has been scrapped, which, it is estimated, will save £10 million this year and £65 million in the future.
Other casualties of the first round of cuts:
- The Training and Development Agency for Schools is to lose £30 million from its budget.
- The National College for School Leadership, which supports potential headteachers and leaders of children's services and early years, faces cuts of £16m - around 10 per cent of its budget.
- The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency, which has been involved in the forthcoming review of the EYFS, is to lose £8m in funding this year and its long-term future is uncertain.
- The School Food Trust has been told to save £1million from its communications budget.
- Child Trust Funds are to be scaled back from August and abolished from 1 January 2011.
Winners in the announcement include school funding, funding for Sure Start and 16-19 education spending, which are preserved and ringfenced until at least 2011. Any savings made within these areas are to be recycled within their budgets.
Further education colleges are to benefit from £50m of Government investment, and £150m has been allocated to fund 50,000 new apprenticeship places, focused on small and medium enterprises, in a bid to encourage growth.
