“Why have 99 per cent of Birmingham schools had to make cuts?”

That’s something that will be on the minds of thousands of commuters around Birmingham tomorrow morning when they see it draped across a billboard near Spaghetti Junction.

The question is one of three being posted on billboards by the NEU teaching union on the day that education secretary Damian Hinds is due to address the Conservative Party conference in the city.

And they are questions for which parents, teachers and support staff need answers, said the union.

“Why are 2,060 children with special needs waiting for a school place?” will appear on the corner of Corporation Street and Bull Street from 6am. And “Why did 35,800 teachers leave for other jobs last year?” will be seen on the Aston Expressway.

Joint general secretary of the NEU, Kevin Courtney, said the questions were aimed at a government that “wasn’t listening”.

He said: “For too long, the government has buried its head in the sand about pressing and important issues that are putting our children’s education at risk and driving thousands of teachers out of the profession.

“Damian Hinds needs to use his speech to reassure the country that he will not let education sink into further serious problems, by addressing the school-funding crisis, the teacher recruitment and retention crisis, and the severe lack of provision for children and young people with special educational needs.”

The number of teachers leaving the profession has increased by 45 per cent since 2011 and the 35,800 teachers who left last year does not include those who retired, said the union. 

It stated that, across the nation, 2,060 children and young people with a statement or education, health and care plan are “awaiting provision” and have no educational provision at all - neither within a school nor through alternative means.

Mr Courtney added: “Mr Hinds should, as a minimum, announce that there will be an emergency injection for the SEND funding gap and that he will fully implement the School Teacher Review Body recommendation that all teachers and school leaders should get a 3.5 per cent pay rise, and [that] he will fully fund the teachers’ and support-staff pay rises that schools have to pay.

“Things cannot go on as they are; schools, parents, children and young people deserve so much better than this half-baked, underfunded version of education that is being presided over by the current government.”

The posters will be on display for 24 hours.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “These figures from the National Education Union are misleading and do not take into account the current funding situation. Under our funding formula, Birmingham received £926 million for its schools in 2018-19 - an increase of £22 million from last year.

“Birmingham’s high needs funding to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) increased to more than £152 million this year, an increase of £4.1 million on last year.

“It is simply wrong to suggest that there are 2,000 children or young people with SEND not in school because they are waiting for support.

“Many of these young people - who make up less than 1 per cent of the 320,000 benefiting from tailored support - are children in nursery awaiting a reception place, are already in one school but waiting for a place in a different one, are over 16 and waiting for a place at college or sixth form, or may recently have taken up employment and no longer need this support.

“On top of this, the number of teachers in our schools remains high - there are 10,000 more in classrooms than in 2010 and the number of trainee teachers recruited last year increased by 3 per cent.  The education secretary is working with the unions and Ofsted to bear down on workload to ensure that teaching remains a fulfilling profession that can continue to inspire our young people for generations to come.”