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By Cllr Graham Howe
There are 10 Secondary schools, 54 Primary schools and two special educational needs schools looking after around 30,000 children in Wokingham Borough.
Nationally School budgets are split in the following proportions:
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84% Staff Costs
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6% standing costs (rates, maintenance etc)
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6% Energy costs (as at 2019)
I gathered these figures when I was appointed Deputy Lead Children’s Services.
It does not take an Einstein brain to work out that leaves less than 4% for discretionary educational spend.
So, in 2019 I launched, together with the then executive member for climate change Cllr Gregor Murray, the Solar on Schools project on the basis that if we could halve the energy costs, it would greatly increase the funds available for Discretionary Educational spend.
When I became Executive Member for Children’s Services, I was able to better promote the programme. Now a number of schools, most recently Shinfield St Mary’s Primary School, have installed solar and proven the savings policy the Conservative administration supported and put in place.
In February 2022, times changed due to Putin’s War and energy prices have doubled.
So, the simple arithmetic is that all what was Educational Discretionary Spend is totally absorbed in energy costs.
I put a question to Cllr Prue Bray, now the Lib Dem executive member for children’s services, at the full council meeting in September asking her to accelerate the programme.
The schools badly need the funds. What is more, it is something that the Council can do something about directly rather than blaming central government and other factors for not doing it.
Cllr Bray answered that it is down to the Academy Trusts responsible for nine out 10 Secondary schools and more than half of the primary schools as their funding is direct from the Department of Education.
She said the Governing Boards of the remaining local authority-maintained schools must make the decisions.
The Council should devote its efforts to things they can do something about, and they can accelerate this programme.
There are financial packages from the likes of Salix Finance who provide Government funded interest free loans for public bodies. The loans are very flexible and can include making roofs solar ready and include the installation costs.
The loans can also include batteries to store electricity when schools are closed. Many schools across the country use such schemes.
The Lib Dems says they support greener energy, but they aren’t proactively promoting Solar on Schools, for the benefit of our 30,000 children across the Borough.
I must ask you to join the lobby.
We need to save our schools energy costs and save the planet. Please write to your school and ward councillor to get them on board with the Solar on Schools programme.
Cllr Graham Howe, shadow executive member for children’s services and Wokingham Borough councillor for Remenham, Wargrave and Ruscombe
