The government will invest an extra £2.3 billion per year in schools over the next two years, the chancellor has announced today.
Delivering his Autumn Statement today, Jeremy Hunt said that “being pro education is being pro growth”.
He said he would go beyond “protecting” the schools budget and “increase” it, because the government wanted school standards “to continue to rise for every child”.
“Our message to heads, teachers and classroom assistants is: ‘Thank you for your brilliant work, we need it to continue and in difficult economic circumstances,’” he added.
In documents published alongside the Autumn Statement, the Treasury said the extra money promised to schools today will enable them to “continue to invest in high-quality teaching and to target additional support to the children who need it most”.
It also said it would adjust Spending Review 2021 budgets down to “account for the removal of the compensation for employer costs of the Health and Social Care Levy” [the changes to national insurance], and that this brings the core schools budget to a total of £58.8 billion in 2024-25, £2 billion greater than previously published.
Core schools funding will now rise to £57.3 billion in 2023-24 and £58.8 billion the year after.
However, the education capital budget - which covers one-off costs such as building repair work, rather than recurring costs such as salaries and energy bills - will hit £7 billion next year, but will drop to £6.1 billion the year after.
Schools have faced a range of financial pressures this year owing to rising energy costs, staff salary increases and other inflationary costs.
Last month, leaders of 13 education organisations, including the Association of School and College Leaders, wrote to all Conservative MPs warning that schools in their constituencies will see an average shortfall of up to £45,000 for primaries and £250,000 for secondaries by 2024.
Autumn Statement: Extra funding ‘positive news for education’
The government previously moved to ease schools’ budget worries via an energy support scheme for schools, though there have been concerns about the fact that this support is only guaranteed for six months.
Prior to today’s statement, there had also been hints from ministers about education cuts to come.
The extra funding announced by Mr Hunt was welcomed by school leaders, but they warned that this investment comes in the context of schools having endured “a decade of real-terms cuts”.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of ASCL, described the increased funding as “positive news for education”.
He added: “However, the devil tends to be in the detail and we’ll be closely looking at the figures to fully understand the implications. In particular, we’ll be looking at where this leaves special educational needs and post-16 provision, which are both facing extraordinarily difficult financial circumstances.
“We recognise this commitment to education is made in the context of a bleak economic picture but to put it into perspective, this comes after a decade of real-terms cuts to schools and colleges.”
He said the government must develop a plan that “has more investment in education at its heart because this is crucial to ensure we have a workforce with the skills and knowledge to deliver that goal”.
He also highlighted other issues facing the education sector, including “a teacher recruitment and retention crisis”, which he said is largely down to pay.
Stephen Morales, CEO of the Institute of School Business Leadership, who last week wrote to the education secretary to warn that “many schools” faced becoming “technically insolvent” under funding plans, said he also welcomed the money and thanked Department for Education officials for “making the case to Treasury”.
But he warned that the £2.3 billion-per-year figure announced by Mr Hunt “is a little misleading”.
“It’s actually £2 billion because of the changes to the health and social care levy money - but this will go some way to alleviating the pressures caused by unfunded pay increases.
“Schools still have to weather the storm for the next few months [the increases come in next year] and it’s going to be challenging, but I think we all anticipated something a lot more gloomy.”
Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, said the organisation was “delighted” that the government has prioritised schools in the Autumn statement.
“Schools and school trusts have the talent and expertise to find innovative and cost-effective ways to keep improving education and supporting their local communities, and the announcement today will help them to plan ahead,” she said.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said: “After so many years of campaigning I am pleased to see that this chancellor agrees with us when he says that education is key to growth. The work schools do to support and educate children and young people is vital for our country’s future.
“We hope that the additional money announced today will help bring schools back from the cliff edge that they have been teetering on. The devil is always in the detail of these things but the headline announcement is welcome.”
