Keren's Story

Meet Keren, 27, from Oxford East in the South East. She wanted to become a teacher in a subject with critical shortages, but found her path blocked when HM Treasury's spending rules forced the Department for Education to reduce training bursaries for her region. The classrooms were there, the graduates ready to teach were there, but Westminster chose not to fund the posts that would connect them. This episode explores how central government departments are forced to compete for fixed pots of money, as though the government that creates the currency must first find it somewhere else. A story about political choices disguised as fiscal necessity. This podcast contains analysis of government monetary policy and public sector funding decisions.