Academy school staff strike over funding dispute

Staff at academy schools are on strike in a dispute over funding

Staff at academy schools in East and West Sussex have gone on strike in a dispute over funding.

Demonstrations are being held in protest against the University of Brighton Academies Trust for allegedly withholding funds.

The National Education Union (NEU) said the trust’s financial practices are “depriving schools of essential funds” by extracting money from school budgets.

The trust said it was "committed" to negotiations with the NEU and discussions were ongoing.

Picket lines are in place at schools in Burgess Hill and Hastings, with further industrial action expected on Wednesday and Thursday.

The strikers have called for an independent audit of the trust’s finances and a cap on the proportion of funds that can be extracted from school budgets.

Hastings Academy staff members formed a picket line

Phil Clarke, NEU East Sussex vice-president, said: “To resolve this dispute, the trust not only need to change their funding model, which they have agreed to, they need to guarantee that school budgets will not pay for the change.

“We cannot accept further job cuts and workload increases as a price for putting this right.”

'Not enough money going to schools'

Alice Seymour, a parent of a child at one of the trust’s school, said while the strikes were difficult for parents, she supported them.

“There isn’t enough government money going to schools. Teachers and teaching assistants should not be cut to pay for CEOs and marketing teams,” she said.

A trust spokesperson said it had listened to concerns raised and had shown a commitment to implementing changes.

“The trust remains committed to ongoing negotiations with the NEU to prevent future industrial action and to resolve the dispute,” they said.