Sajid Javid is set to announce a funding boost for schools next week in a statement on the Spending Round, it has been revealed.
The chancellor has said the government could now afford to spend more on people’s priorities such as schools.
However, any new funding will not be going into schools until 2020.
Funding: No new cash for schools this year
Quick read: PM ‘must honour funding pledge’
Protest: Heads to march for school funding out of ‘desperation’
The Department for Education is also reported to be planning major announcements on new funding, a crackdown on pupil behaviour and a further wave of free schools.
A briefing document seen by The Guardian is reported to include a £3.5 billion funding announcement and plans to increase teachers pay, with starting salaries rising to £30,000.
The headline figure is broken down into an additional £2.8 billion for primary and secondary schools teaching pupils up to the age of 16, including £800 million for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The details for an extra £800 million for sixth-form and further education colleges are still under discussion with the Treasury, according to The Guardian.
The DfE is also said to be considering new guidance on behaviour to back teachers in excluding pupils; offering £24,000 incentives to academy trusts to take on struggling schools; opening another wave of free schools; and removing the exemption on “outstanding” schools being routinely inspected by Ofsted.
Responding to The Guardian report, a DfE spokeswoman said: “We do not comment on leaks. We will announce further information on our domestic priorities in due course.”
Claims of ‘panic’ in government
Mr Javid had been due to give his first major speech as chancellor today but cancelled yesterday, leading opponents to claim there was “panic” in the government.
But he has now revealed he will give a Spending Round statement on Wednesday 4 September in the House of Commons instead, pushing the speech back by a week.
The former home secretary said he would come good on the pledge made by then prime minister Theresa May at the last Tory conference and loosen the purse strings for public services.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, he said: “Thanks to the hard work of the British people over the last decade, we can afford to spend more on the people’s priorities - without breaking the rules around what the government should spend - and we’ll do that in a few key areas like schools, hospitals and police.
“But at the same time, it’s vital that we continue to live within our means as a country. Unlike the Labour Party, we don’t believe in just throwing money at a problem. And especially at a time when the global economy is slowing, it’s important that we don’t let our public finances get out of control. ”
The chancellor added: “Health and education aren’t just the names of departments - they’re lifelines of opportunity, just as they were for me.
“The teachers who persuaded me that I had what it takes to study economics, and put me on the path to becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer.”
The decision to fast-track efforts to draw up public spending and investment plans was announced earlier this month, although the target time period was given as September, rather than early September.
Mr Javid has asked for a 12-month Spending Round instead of a longer-term exercise in a bid to “clear the ground ahead of Brexit while delivering on people’s priorities”.
The Spending Round will cover day-to-day department budgets for 2020-21, rather than a three-year period first mooted by the previous government, as the UK prepares to leave the EU on 31 October.
The chancellor said the review would “give Whitehall departments certainty over their budgets for next year, and will confirm our plans to fund the nation’s priorities”.
