I REFER to Jeremy Whiting’s letter on teaching assistants (HAS, May 25) and why he is wrong.

As a Durham county school governor I can assure him that this is nothing to do with money. The council acknowledges this. What it is about becomes less clear with each contradictory statement it makes.

What is clear is who will suffer, schools as they lose highly qualified TAs, many of whose pay will have been cut by more than 35 per cent since 2012, if these additional pay cuts are imposed.

School governing bodies will suffer as they struggle to replace these staff.

Most importantly, pupils will suffer in terms of learning, achievement and the loss of outside hours’ activities that enrich children’s experiences in schools. These are only made possible through the extra unpaid hours that TAs put in to provide out of hours clubs, pupils to be taken to sports competitions and activity centres.

Surely no one wants this?

Teaching assistants provide invaluable specialised support in schools. Without them schools as we know them can’t operate.

“Every Child Matters” is the principle that guides everything that a school does. It is time Durham County Council applied the same principle to its teaching assistants.

Patrick Bonnett, Barnard Castle