NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union has today called on the Government to take urgent action to address the deepening crisis in local government funding, warning that continued cuts to vital services are harming children, families, and schools.
Speaking at TUC Congress 2025 in Brighton, NASUWT Senior Vice President Mark Dickinson said:
“In 2024, the Tory Government was finally kicked out of office after 14 years of austerity that laid waste to public services. A Labour Government was elected with a huge majority and a promise of change. But 14 months on, very little has changed.”
The Union backed a motion urging the TUC to press governments across the UK to reverse the damage caused by austerity and restore local services to pre-2010 levels.
“As a teacher I know education does not stand apart from the wider fabric of society,” Mr Dickinson said. “When children walk through school doors, they carry the weight of their families’ struggles and the failures in those services that should be supporting them.”
He highlighted the consequences of cuts to children’s services, including the lack of early intervention, long waiting lists for speech and language therapy, reduced access to CAMHS, and the disappearance of youth provision in many communities.
“These services are not luxuries. They are the safety net that allows every child to thrive. When they are stripped away, it is schools and teachers who are expected to pick up the pieces. Teachers must not be asked to shoulder this burden alone.”
Mr Dickinson condemned the continued outsourcing of public services to private providers, warning that this approach delivers poorer outcomes while enabling profiteering at the expense of children and families.
“We need a universal safety net to ensure every child can thrive. Giving families the best start in life is not just good social policy - it is sound economic policy and a moral obligation.
“Let us stand together—education unions, public sector unions, every union in this hall—to demand that the Government puts children and families first.”
