Heads have called for reassurance that Department for Education funds are not being “recycled” after the department refused to confirm if the £1 billion Covid-19 catch-up fund is entirely new money.

Asked if the funding package would come from within the Department for Education’s existing budgets, or if it is all new Treasury cash, a spokesperson would not give a straight answer.

They said: “This £1 billion catch-up package will be additional to the core schools budget paid out through the national funding formula, which is increasing by £2.6 billion next year.”

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Asked again where exactly the extra money would be coming from, the spokesperson said they had nothing further to add at this stage.

The concerns come the day after the DfE confirmed a scrapped £55 million grant aimed at Year 7 students who start secondary school behind their peers will not be redirected via the national funding formula for schools.

The move was criticised as “short-sighted” and “giving out on one hand and taking away with the other” by headteachers and union officials.

The DfE insists that the funds from the discontinued grant will not be put towards the £1 billion Covid-19 catch-up package.

However, when asked about the fact that the department would not account for the source of the Covid-19 fund, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said it would be “helpful to clarify” that no “unfortunate surprises” will emerge at a later date.

“We are sure that schools would be grateful for any reassurance that the government can give that the money for catch-up funding is all new money from the Treasury, and isn’t recycled from elsewhere in the DfE’s budgets,” he said.

“We absolutely do welcome this additional funding, but it would be helpful to clarify that there are no unfortunate surprises which emerge at a later date.”

Jules White, headteacher at Tanbridge House School in West Sussex, said there is “growing concern” that the £1 billion fund “is not going to be completely new money from the Treasury”.

“It is vital the DfE clarifies the situation urgently,” he said.

“We have already seen £55 million taken from the children who are furthest behind their peers when entering secondary school and it would be disastrous if schools planned to spend new money on catch-up only to find the money taken from elsewhere in their budgets.

“Let’s hope these concerns are entirely without foundation.”