The petition of Parents, carers, staff and pupils of Hollingwood Primary School,
Declares that Hollingwood Primary School has seen a decline in funding per pupil of £297 and £249,143 overall in the sum allocated to the school between 2015 and 2019; further that the school is facing significant budget pressures as a result and is having to make changes to save money that impact directly on its ability to provide a well-rounded education for all pupils.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to increase per pupil funding and reverse the cuts made to school budgets.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Judith Cummins, Official Report, 4 September 2019; Vol. 664, c. 317 .]
[P002515]
Observations from The Minister for School Standards (Nick Gibb):
A great education is fundamental to the success of children, their families and our communities, as well as the success of our country. That is why we are investing a total of £14 billion additional funding for schools over the next three years, which will allow for a cash increase of £2.6 billion next year, with increases of £4.8 billion and £7.1 billion in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively, compared to 2019-20.
This is in addition to the £1.5 billion per year we will continue to provide to fund additional pension costs for teachers over the next three years. By 2022-23 the core schools budget will rise to £52.2 billion. This delivers on the Prime Minister’s promise to increase school funding by £4.6 billion above inflation, levelling up funding to give all young people the same opportunities to succeed. The IFS has said that this investment will restore schools’ per pupil funding to previous levels in real terms by 2022-23.
Overall, school funding is increasing by 5% in 2020-21 alone. We will continue to distribute that funding through the National Funding Formula (NFF), which ensures that funding is based on schools’ and pupils’ needs and characteristics, not accidents of geography or history. Next year this will also ensure that per-pupil funding for every school can rise at least in line with inflation next year; and faster than inflation for most.
Under the NFF, Hollingwood Primary school will attract £4,176 per pupil for 2020-2—reflecting an increase of 4.6% in pupil-led funding compared to last year. Of course, local authorities continue to remain responsible for determining school budgets at a local level, in consultation with their schools, so individual allocations may differ from the figures above.
A rich and varied curriculum is critical for a child’s future success, and we trust headteachers to spend their budgets in a way that achieves the best outcomes for their pupils. In addition to this significant extra investment, we will continue to provide schools with practical support to help them get the very best from every pound, including advice on savings that can be made on the more than £10 billion non-staffing spend spent across England last year.