Policy and campaigning

NLT policy

2009 Budget

25 Apr 2009

Alistair Darling delivered his second budget as chancellor against a backdrop of global financial turmoil and domestic concerns about rising public debt. In the twelve months since the Chancellor’s last budget, the UK has seen crisis in the financial sector, significant drops in house prices, rising unemployment and falling tax revenues.

Given the current climate, it is unsurprising that news headlines covering the budget have been dominated by the £175bn the UK will be forced to borrow to deal with the recession. Speculation over what this means for individual taxpayers has understandably dominated mainstream coverage, however there will also have to be cuts and ‘austerity measures’ taken by public services in order to balance the books. Therefore, any review of the budget must look both at the spending announced in the current budget, as well as what future budgets and Comprehensive Spending Reviews (CSR) might hold for public services.

The Chancellor’s speech was in line with current Government rhetoric in focusing on the post-recession world. It concentrated on ensuring training and employment opportunities are provided for those entering or about to enter the job market, as well as pledging to improve the education system for children of all ages. These are measures designed not only reassure those who are concerned about rising unemployment now, but also to strengthen UK skills in a post-recession world.

The National Literacy Trust (NLT) is particularly interested in the commitment to giving every person under 25 either a job or training opportunity. Considering the clear and demonstrable links between poor literacy and unemployment, the NLT urges the Government to ensure that all training takes account of an individual’s literacy levels, and that the job opportunities provided involve the opportunity to up-skill through an employment based training scheme such as the current national skills service, Train to Gain. This would make the offer consistent with the recommendations set out by Lord Leitch in his 2006 review of skills in the UK.[1]

Much of the budget’s provision for young people came from additional tax credits and welfare provision for families with children, however, there was also a pledge to increase funding for schools. While some agencies have said that this will not be enough to meet the Government’s targets on child poverty, it is a signal that even during difficult times the issue is still a priority for Government.

The NLT welcomes the continued emphasis on school funding and child poverty, particularly in the difficult financial climate. School funding has an obvious impact on all four literacy skills. However, literacy is wider than schools - it is a key component of social mobility and closely linked to poverty. It affects achievement, aspirations and economic wellbeing. Everyone must be provided with the skills and aspirations to achieve in order to ensure that individuals, families and communities remain out of poverty. For the country to reap the full benefits of a literate nation, a range of services must be involved in the delivery of formal and informal literacy opportunities. Libraries, community centres and extended schools all provide the infrastructure for the nation’s literacy to flourish.

The real challenge for both central and local Government does not lie in the 2009 budget. It will come with the austerity measures in future budgets and CSRs, which may look to cut the infrastructure that surrounds literacy provision and strengthens its benefits. The Government’s commitment to literacy improvement will be tested by the extent to which they understand the interconnectivity of services that impact upon literacy, and how this is reflected in funding priorities.

Funding and utilising a range of literacy delivery services is not incompatible with increased austerity. This summer the NLT will release a manifesto for literacy, outlining key literacy issues for the next five years. These issues do not necessarily require new spending and increased budgets, but rather recognition of the key role literacy plays in social mobility and raising aspirations.

The Chancellor’s budget provided a glimpse into the priorities once the nation moves past recession. While headline figures were centred on public borrowing, individual tax burden and the omnipresent alcohol, fuel and tobacco levies, behind this there was recognition that education and skills are the key not only to taking the country of recession, but to keeping it healthy. It is this emphasis on the importance of skills that the NLT would like to see the next government and future budgets build on.

George Dugdale, Policy Adviser

National Literacy Trust, April 2009

Downloadable version of this paper: Budget 09

[1] Leitch (2006), Leitch review of skills

Tags: Policy