Cash-strapped schools plan to lay off teachers in blow to Labour’s promise

Despite government pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers, headteachers are under renewed pressure to avoid going into deficit

Schools across England say they are being forced to make teachers and teaching assistants redundant to avoid going into deficit, in a serious blow to the new government's plans to improve education.

Labour swept into government in July with a central promise to tackle the crisis in schools by recruiting 6,500 teachers. But unions have told the Observer that schools have already started making teachers redundant to balance their books, arguing that after more than a decade of funding cuts under the Tories there remain no less painful efficiencies to be made.