Schools will be given greater control over the spending of their budgets, under plans revealed by the education secretary yesterday.

The proportion of school funding allocated by local authorities will increase from 87 per cent this year to 92 per cent in 2005-06, he told MPs.

Forum Response: Association of Teachers and Lecturers

Gwen Evans, deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), told ePolitix.com: "We welcome the increase in local autonomy but it needs to be accompanied by very clear signals that teachers are to be trusted to make key professional decisions.

"For far too long the government has been wasting their expertise, taking up their time with over hastily devised schemes and time consuming changes.

"It is worrying though that the government still seems to be tiptoeing round the workload issue. Charles Clarke's credibility with the profession will soar if he finds ways of facing that problem."

Forum Response: National Union of Teachers

Doug McAvoy, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "I recognise and welcome the additional funding for schools announced by the Secretary of State but it is jam that will be spread very thinly.

"I am not convinced that the grant funding now devolved to schools will cover all the expectations and requirements placed on the shoulders of teachers.

"Charles Clarke says that funding will not be released for school workforce reform unless there is agreement. I hope that he will agree that at the heart of those reforms must be a cutting back of the unreasonable targets and initiatives that he expects of schools.

"The 3.2 per cent minimum for authorities that have not done well out of the funding review will mean that the government's expectations will bite particularly hard. I want him to look again at the difficulties that those authorities will face."

Forum Response: Professional Association of Teachers

Alison Johnston, senior professional officer for PAT, told ePolitix.com: "We welcome this injection of much-needed funding into schools and nurseries. Schools will have the opportunity to determine their own budget priorities as additional resources are devolved.

"However, this is not new money, but a re-announcement of funding already earmarked for education and childcare. These funds will not be enough to meet all the demands placed on them, and they will only have a significant impact if the government can recruit more teachers, teaching assistants and childcarers, and train and pay them properly.

"This funding is needed now. Linking it to the progress of negotiations on reform is like holding a gun to professionals' heads."