Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's national funding formula tables for schools and high needs, what deflator was used to calculate that per pupil funding will be maintained in real terms over the years 2018-19 and 2019-20; and what the reasons were for the choice of that deflator.

The Department uses the GDP deflator to calculate real terms funding levels. This is consistent with practice across government, including for the purpose of the 2015 Spending Review.

The Government publishes GDP deflators that can be used to understand the impact of inflation over time. These are available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gdp-deflators-at-market-prices-and-money-gdp-march-2017-spring-budget-2017