Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure schools in deprived areas have adequate money in their budgets to take children on school trips connected to the curriculum.

At the last Spending Review, the Chancellor announced that the Government would meet its manifesto commitment to protect the core schools budget throughout this Parliament. We have also protected the pupil premium at its current rates, worth £2.5 billion annually. Additionally, all local authorities must include a deprivation factor in their local funding formulae, through which they distribute funding to schools in their locality. It is for individual schools to decide how best to use their funding to raise the attainment of pupils, including those from deprived backgrounds, which can include visits in support of the curriculum.