New MP Raises UBAT Concerns
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN
Helena Dollimore, the newly elected MP for Hastings and Rye, has raised her concerns about the ongoing dispute between local members of the National Education Union (NEU) and the University of Brighton Academies Trust (UBAT), which has disrupted the education of over 3,000 pupils in four local schools. In one of her first acts as a Member of Parliament, she has written to the Minister of State for Education, Catherine McKinnell, to highlight the “urgent situation” affecting children attending the Hastings Academy, the St Leonard’s Academy, Robsack Wood Primary Academy and the Baird Primary Academy, where a series of strikes has resulted in children missing several days of schooling.
The industrial action by staff has been triggered by the amount of public funding UBAT retains for central administrative services rather than passing it on to the schools, which are having to make budget cuts as a result. Across all schools run by UBAT, the average amount of public funding retained is 13%. In the St Leonard’s Academy, however, the Trust retained roughly 20% of funding for the 2023-24 academic year. This compares to a national average of 6% for all academy trusts.
The dispute escalated in April when UBAT announced a series of job cuts at the Hastings Academy. In response, the NEU called for industrial action demanding a change in the funding model with a commitment from UBAT that school budgets would not pay for the change. When the union coordinated strike ballots across the trust schools, local members voted by over 90% to back industrial action.
There have been a number of strikes in recent weeks with teachers and support staff manning picket lines outside of schools. They have often been joined by parents who are just as angered at the impact the diversion of funds away from classrooms is having on the education of their children.
In her letter, Ms Dollimore called on the Department for Education to review the situation “to ensure that as much public funding as possible reaches local schools.” She said the “unusually high amount” of public funding being withheld from local schools by UBAT, was “leading to bigger class sizes and less support for children who need it the most, including those with special needs.”
Ms Dollimore said she was also “extremely concerned” to hear from one whistleblower that, for the 2024-25 academic year, UBAT has suggested that a portion of pupil premium funding will be retained.
After speaking with many parents and whistleblowers working at the schools in question, Ms Dollimore said she would welcome the support of the Education Minister of State in reviewing the situation. Given that local state schools in Hastings and Rye consistently rank below national and regional averages for educational attainment, she said it was “vital” that all public education funding “is effectively used and targeted in our local schools and frontline services.”
NEU District Secretary Jenny Sutton welcomed the intervention of the local MP, saying, “We are all united in the campaign for better funding and staffing for our schools.”
A UBAT spokesperson refused to comment directly on the details of Ms Dollimore’s letter, saying only that they would welcome an opportunity to meet with her and that they remained optimistic about resolving the dispute.
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