A YORK head teacher has hit out at political pledges to ring-fence education funding saying they “simply aren’t true”.

John Tomsett, head teacher at Huntington School, said politicians fail to account for clear financial pressures on schools.

He said: “People are not being straight with us. They are not being straight with the electorate about what is going to happen to schools and my deep suspicion is that that’s why it is off the agenda.” Mr Tomsett says politicians do not want to focus on education during this election because they know school costs are set to rise.

He said: “If we are going to meet the National Insurance contribution increases and the pension increases and the pay increases, other things have got to go.”

Both Tory and Labour manifestos promise to ring-fence school budgets. The Conservatives say they will maintain school funding levels for five to 16-year-olds and increase expenditure in-line with pupil number rises – but they do not account for inflation.

Labour’s funding lock for two to 19-year-olds does account for inflation but not a rise in pupil numbers.

Neither party takes into account rises in National Insurance payments and pension contributions that schools will be expected to find from existing budgets.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies says that amounts to a 7-12 per cent cut.