Headteachers lobby Education Secretary over cuts

Two primary school heads from the Taunton area visited Parliament on Monday to lobby the Secretary of State for Education, Lucy Powell on cuts in sports funding.

Steve Gillan from Thurlbear School and Rachel White from Bishop Henderson School were joined by their local MP, Gideon Amos, for the meeting with Lucy Powell.

The 2025-26 academic year was the last year of the PE and Sport Premium – it is being replaced with a new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network.

But Steve and Rachel are among headteachers who fear the changes will lead to PE staff being let go by schools.

They issued a statement after the visit, saying: “The Education Secretary was very open, professional and accepting of our message.

“Without a change in the plan to get rid of the sports premium funding, there will be a direct and negative impact on vulnerable pupils, rural pupils and schools providing quality experiences in sport and beyond.

“Ms Powell demonstrated a commitment to investigating whether the new arrangements for the sports funding could deliver the measurable benefits to our pupils that the existing arrangements have been delivering for many years. 

“There was an offer from Ms Powell to speak with us further about this, which was very welcome.”

The pair also thanked Gideon for his support.

“We are hugely grateful to Gideon for ensuring this important meeting took place, and for his persistence on behalf of primary pupils.

“The message conveyed not only impacts Taunton and Wellington, but schools across the country.

“Without Gideon's help, the message on sports funding would have gone unheard at the highest levels of the government.”

Gideon said: “Bringing local headteachers to meet the Secretary of State for Education really highlighted the importance of sport funding in schools here in Taunton and Wellington.

“The heads made an excellent case to Lucy Powell who promised to look again at the loss of sports funding due to a new partnership approach the government wants to bring in. 

“I was clear to the Education Secretary that the government must compensate schools in Taunton and Wellington for the loss of sports funding and I will be following up to ensure the Education Department acts to do so.”