Schools: Finance
(asked on 5th May 2023) - View Source
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools are able to purchase all the classroom resources they need.
The Government is committed to providing a world class education system for all children. The Autumn Statement 2022 announced additional funding of £2 billion in 2023/24 and 2024/25, over and above totals announced at the 2021 Spending Review. This means funding for mainstream schools and high needs is £3.5 billion higher in 2023/24, compared to 2022/23. That is on top of the £4 billion, year on year increase provided in 2022/23. This represents an increase of £7.5 billion, or over 15%, in just two years.
Total funding for both mainstream schools and high needs will total £58.8 billion in 2024/25, the highest ever level in real terms per pupil. After accounting for the new pay offers in 2023, the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that school funding is still growing faster than school costs.
In addition to this core revenue funding, schools receive funding through a number of separate streams. This includes the Universal Infant Free School Meals funding, the recovery premium and the National Tutoring Programme to support education recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Department also has a capital budget of £7 billion for 2023/24, which funds a range of programmes for schools, such as the school rebuilding programme. Information about this programme is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme.
This additional funding will enable head teachers to continue to spend money in the areas that have a positive effect on educational attainment, including high quality teaching and targeted support to the children who need it most, as well as to help schools to manage higher costs.
The Department’s Schools Resource Management offer includes a free range of practical tools and information to help all schools unlock efficiencies on, for example, how to save money on regular purchases such as classroom resources.