The safety of pupils will be threatened by cuts to support staff doing vital jobs such as administering medicines and conducting criminal record checks, a union has claimed.

According to a Unison poll of 1,400 school office employees, 47 per cent of respondents said that the number of administrative staff have been cut in their school over the last year as funding becomes increasingly tight.

The union claims that further cuts will put pupils at risk because support staff carry out a range of critical tasks.

Unison’s survey found that 71 per cent of respondents are responsible for ensuring people visiting their school are safe to do so, with 41 per cent responsible for organising security checks to make certain new staff have no previous criminal convictions.

More than half the support staff surveyed (55 per cent) said they administered medicines and first aid to pupils, with 62 per cent updating school medical records.

‘Staff go above and beyond’

According to Unison’s poll, 74 per cent of respondents said support staff cuts had resulted in them having to work additional, unpaid hours.

The union said that with less support staff, teachers and teaching assistants would increasingly find themselves having to step in to pick up their work.

Jon Richards, Unison’s head of education, said: “School office staff go above and beyond every single day and schools would struggle to manage without them.

“If their jobs go, everyone - heads, teachers, pupils and parents - would notice the difference.”

He added: “These employees play a vital role keeping children safe, reassuring parents and ensuring the smooth and cost-effective running of schools. Without them, already overstretched teachers and teaching assistants could be pulled out of classrooms.”

Those surveyed also reported that budget cuts have resulted in fewer books (53 per cent of respondents) and computers (42 per cent) for pupils, less funding for school trips (48 per cent) and bigger class sizes (40 per cent).

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