Government needs to invest in further education to achieve missions

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'Failing to invest in further education is simply not good enough. There is already a pay gap of £9000 between school and college teachers, and £400 million per year is needed just to keep per pupil spending at its current level over the coming years. This means our colleges - and the staff who are their backbone - are set to fall even further behind.  

'Ultimately, this decision is at odds with Labour's core missions for government. We had come to expect such neglect from the Tories but we expect more from a Labour government which aims to spread opportunities for working class people and kickstart a decade of national renewal. 

'Our colleges, at the heart of every community, will be the foundation stones for any project of rebuilding Britain. Without investing in college staff and establishing national collective bargaining structures for them, our members will continue to suffer from the inequalities and degraded living standards they experienced under Tory rule. 

'Further education staff and students deserve better. Britain deserves better. We therefore urge the Chancellor to rectify this deeply damaging neglect of further education in her first full Budget by properly investing.'