Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Department for Education

Oral Answers to Questions

Anthony Browne Excerpts
Monday 26th April 2021

(2 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lindsay Hoyle Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. I say gently to the Minister that that must have been the longest answer. I am sure that he would like to get some other colleagues in.

Anthony Browne Portrait Anthony Browne (South Cambridgeshire) (Con)
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What assessment his Department has made of the progress made by schools on fully reopening as covid-19 lockdown restrictions have eased.

Holly Mumby-Croft Portrait Holly Mumby-Croft (Scunthorpe) (Con)
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What assessment his Department has made of the progress made by schools on fully reopening as covid-19 lockdown restrictions have eased.

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Gavin Williamson Portrait The Secretary of State for Education (Gavin Williamson)
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The return to school from 8 March has been very successful. Just before Easter, on 25 March, 99.8% of state-funded schools were open. From 15 April, pupil attendance in state-funded schools was at 94%. That is higher than at any point during the autumn term.

Anthony Browne Portrait Anthony Browne
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School funding in South Cambridgeshire has been a particular focus of mine and something that I have raised with the Department before. We have the sixth lowest funding in the country, with £400 per pupil per year less than the national average. The formula means that small village schools are particularly badly affected. Last week, I met one chair of governors of a primary school that has had to make a teacher and an assistant teacher redundant and has now had to merge the years. Will my right hon. Friend consider a change to the system to help small schools that have high fixed costs per capita but that are expected to meet the same standards as larger schools with comparatively higher funding?

Gavin Williamson Portrait Gavin Williamson
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We all know the very important role that small schools play in our communities and villages right across the country. That is why we took the decision to increase the funding to support them from £26 million to £42 million in the latest settlement. That is on top of the fact that we are increasing spending on our schools right across the board, and, for this financial year, my hon. Friend’s schools will receive, on average, a 3.8% increase in their funding, which goes to show that we recognise the importance of fair funding right across the country.