Fury as Net Zero drive targets 255 schools while many report staff cuts.
Labour is facing criticism after research claimed schools are being pushed to spend £100million on solar panels at the same time as teaching staff numbers are falling.
The figures, compiled by Conservative MP Nick Timothy, suggest that while Ed Miliband’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is rolling out solar panels and energy efficiency measures to hundreds of schools, many of the same institutions are cutting back on teachers or struggling to fill vacancies.
According to the research, GB Energy is funding the installation of solar panels at 255 schools across the country at a total cost of £100million. But 100 of those schools saw their teacher headcount fall between November 2023 and November 2024.
Taken together, those schools lost 323 teachers over the year. In addition, 38 of the schools involved are advertising a total of 68 vacant teaching posts as the education system grapples with an ongoing recruitment and retention crisis.
Critics say the figures expose a mismatch between Labour’s climate ambitions and the pressures facing classrooms.
Mr Timothy accused the Government of prioritising what he described as “Net Zero vanity projects” over frontline education. He said: “This says everything about Labour’s priorities.
“Schools are cutting staff numbers after the Government increased National Insurance Contributions and imposed a pay deal without the funds to finance it.
“But Ed Miliband is throwing hundreds of millions at solar panels and climate action plans for the very same schools.
“Kids need teachers, not virtue signalling.”
The £100million solar programme, announced by Mr Miliband’s department, says it is aiming to reduce energy bills and cut carbon emissions. Miliband estimates that a typical school could save around £25,000 a year through installing solar panels.
However, these figures have been disputed and even if all 250 schools involved achieved those savings (around £6.25million a year in total) critics point out it would take roughly 16 years to recoup the upfront cost.
Opponents have also highlighted what the money could otherwise have funded. Based on average salaries, £100million could have paid for more than 2,000 teachers earning £49,084 a year, over 3,000 newly qualified teachers on £31,650, or more than 4,200 teaching assistants on £23,656.
It is acknowledged that funding for solar panels comes from a different government pot than the one used to pay teachers. However, the overlap between staff cuts and the green investment programme has prompted questions about spending priorities at a time when many schools say budgets are under severe strain.
A Government spokeswoman defended the policy, saying: “This government is delivering on its promise to recruit 6,500 more teachers with over 2,300 more secondary and special schoolteachers in classrooms this year, over 32,000 new trainees beginning training and one of the best retention rates since 2010.
“The GB Energy solar panel programme is helping schools slash energy bills by thousands of pounds every year and should pay for themselves twice over across their 30-year lifespan.
“All of those savings are kept in schools’ budgets which go straight back into children’s education, paying for new textbooks, better resources – and of course teachers.”
Despite the reassurance, critics insist the figures show schools are being asked to tighten belts in the classroom while millions are diverted to green infrastructure, a trade-off they say pupils can ill afford.
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