Cut in teacher numbers would 'help savings' - Treasury
CUTTING teacher numbers would be one of the key ways Treasury believes potentially £160m. could be saved over 60 years by rationalising the entire education estate and closing one of the four secondary schools.
Treasury minister Gavin St Pier, who is leading calls for a review of the education estate before the long-awaited La Mare rebuild, said the independent review panel had already warned that running four schools with spare capacity came at a significant cost, including the inefficiencies created by the teacher/pupil ratio operating below Education's own policy of 1:15.
He said that alone costs the taxpayer over £2m. a year, so ultimately £120m. could be saved over 60 years, with a reduction in the number of teachers spread over three schools, instead of four.
Deputy St Pier said the department had put down a potential further saving of £25m. through halving the amount of capital investment for the College of Further Education, taking advantage of the rationalisation process.
The department then still believes that around £5m. could be sliced off the overall capital cost with a more compact redesign of the La Mare project and a further £10m. in capital and revenue over 60 years for running costs and maintenance.
