Schools are set to lose out on £133 million of funding for disadvantaged pupils due to a change in the way the government allocates pupil premium budgets, a new analysis suggests.
The budget cuts stem from a Department for Education decision to calculate the number of children attracting pupil premium funding from this month by using a census taken last October, instead of using fresher figures from January 2021 as previously expected.
This means schools will receive no extra funding for children who became newly eligible for the pupil premium between October 2020 and January 2021.
There has been concern that this “scandalous” change will hit schools hard at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has affected many families’ financial circumstances and added to the strain on school budgets.
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Tes has previously revealed how the change will leave a £3.5 million hole across the education budgets of five London boroughs.
And a Tes investigation then showed that the amount came to £10 million across 19 local authorities including one - North Yorkshire County Council - which said it was set to lose an estimated £862,000.
The DfE and schools minister Nick Gibb have repeatedly declined to say how much of a national saving the department is making as a result of the change, saying that the figure will not be known until June.
Now, a Labour Party analysis of Freedom of Information responses from a quarter of local authorities finds that nearly 30,000 children have become eligible for the pupil premium since October.
Using £1,150 as the average of the disadvantage pupil premium rate for primary (£1,345) and secondary (£955), this means schools will be losing out on an estimated £33,316,650, Labour says.
Applying this nationally, the party estimates as many as 120,000 children could have become eligible for support since October 2020, worth up to £133 million.
Kate Green, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: “The Conservatives’ stealth cut to school budgets shows disregard for children’s futures as we recover from this pandemic.
“The government’s mishandling of the Covid crisis has kept children out of school, missing out on learning and time with friends, and now they are cutting support that would help children most likely to have struggled with learning over the last year.
“The Conservatives have neglected children through this pandemic and now risk leaving them behind in our recovery.”
Some local authorities will be hit particularly hard, the FOIs suggest. For example, Northumberland will miss out on £2.3m after seeing a 29 per cent jump in eligible children between October and January.
Other local authorities that have seen a big spike include Norfolk and Peterborough, at 23.9 per cent and 15.2 per cent respectively.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Throughout the pandemic the government has prioritised children and young people, keeping schools open for vulnerable children and bringing all children back to the classroom as soon as possible, as we know being in school is best for their wellbeing and development.
“We have made sure schools have continued to accept new free school meal applications, providing meals to anyone who becomes newly eligible, including while pupils were learning remotely. Outside of term-time, we have expanded our Holiday Activities and Food Programme to every local authority across the country this year, and the Covid Winter Grant Scheme has also been extended over Easter, to further support vulnerable families.
“Our significant investment in education recovery now totals £1.7 billion, and pupil premium funding is increasing to more than £2.5 billion in 2021-22, reflecting an increase in the number of eligible pupils.”
