Schools recession proof…?
Commons Children, Schools & Families Select Committee Chair
On every bit of marketing material coming out of the advertising companies, event organisers and publishers in recent months have been the words ‘recession proof market’ – referring to the fact that schools, and the education sector in general is in some way recession proof!
What a load of old tosh! Yes, schools are publicly funded and do have annual budgets but they are still effected by the rise in inflation, the credit crunch and the wider economic situation. They still have to battle rising utility bills & costs – just like any other business.
In reality, schools general budgets will remain the same for 2009/10. But, the additional funding, capital expenditure funding and the one-off grants will soon begin to dry up, having a massive impact on school suppliers. MP’s from the Commons Children, Schools & Families Select Committee have also warned schools and local authorities that they need to plan for a “much more austere future”. The Committee go onto predict that future funding will be much tighter than at present and the rate of spending growth will be minimal come the next Spending Review. Add to that the huge amounts of ring-fenced funding that will be disappearing this year, and it begins paints a very bleak picture for the education sector.
However, Gordon Brown is promising to spend his way out of the downturn, and luckily rebuilding and renovating schools is one of the key areas where large amounts of funding will be made available. But there are doubts as to whether this funding IS actually going to be forthcoming, or whether it’s just more hot air from central Government.
Even if the BSF & Primary Capital programmes continue as normal, they will only be of benefit to some suppliers, for the rest it’s a case of having to come up with new, cost effective ways of communicating with their potential customers in 2009. No doubt these savings will help keep some of these firms afloat, but more importantly it should encourage suppliers to harness the use of technology for procurement, tendering and ultimately, winning new business in the industry.
In response to the committee’s warning, Christine Blower, Acting General Secretary of the NUT commented:
The Select Committee is right to point to the potential storm on the horizon for education spending, created by the financial crisis.
