Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools received a lump sum payment in the last financial year; and for how many of those schools the lump sum represented (i) less than one, (ii) two to five, (iii) five to 10, (iv) 10 to 20, (v) 20 to 30, (vi) 30 to 40 and (vii) over 50 per cent of their total income.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The schools national funding formula (NFF) introduced in 2018 is used to distribute core funding for mainstream schools, for pupils from reception to year 11. The NFF determines how much funding each local authority receives, and local authorities then determine individual schools’ final allocations through their own local formulae.
In both the schools NFF and local authority formulae, the majority of funding is distributed on the basis of pupil numbers and pupil characteristics. In line with the formula introduced under the previous government, every school receives a contribution to the costs that do not vary with pupil numbers, which is why both the national and local funding formulae provide a lump sum for every school, irrespective of their size.
The table below summarises the proportion of the funding generated by local authority formulae that the lump sum represents in 2024/25.
Lump sum proportion | Number of schools |
<1% | 9 |
1<2% | 1,350 |
2<5% | 2,744 |
5<10% | 5,898 |
10<20% | 7,128 |
20<30% | 2,057 |
30<40% | 696 |
40<50% | 217 |
>=50% | 51 |
Total | 20,150 |
Further information can be found at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-funding-statistics/2024-25.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what, in the most recent year for which figures are available, was the total financial provision allocated by the Treasury under the Barnett formula to (1) Wales, (2) Scotland, and (3) Northern Ireland; and what sum per capita of those nations each figure represents.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In 2025-26, the devolved governments are receiving over £86 billion, including an additional £6.6 billion through the operation of the Barnett formula.
The Scottish Government is receiving £47.7 billion including an additional £3.4bn through the operation of the Barnett formula. The Welsh Government is receiving £21 billion including an additional £1.7 billion through the operation of the Barnett formula. The Northern Ireland Executive is receiving £18.2 billion including an additional £1.5 billion through the operation of the Barnett formula.
This funding is made up of each devolved government’s baseline, reflecting all previous funding allocations, excluding those which were one-off or time-limited, and uplifts due to the operation of the Barnett formula for 2025-26 at Autumn Budget 2024.
The devolved governments are receiving at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK. That translates into over £16 billion more in 2025-26: over £8.5 billion for Scottish Government, over £4 billion for Welsh Government and £2.5 billion the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of differences in funding per child between SEN children educated in state schools and those educated in privately owned institutions.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
From the 2018/19 financial year to 2023/24, the most recent year for which information is available, the average per-pupil expenditure on pupils with an education, health and care (EHC) plan in maintained special schools and special academies on the one hand, and non-maintained and independent special schools on the other, are set out in the tables below:
Per-pupil expenditure: Cash values (rounded) as at the time, not adjusted for inflation | ||||||
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Maintained special schools and special academies | £20,000 | £21,000 | £22,000 | £23,000 | £24,000 | £26,000 |
Non-maintained and independent special schools | £52,000 | £54,000 | £54,000 | £57,000 | £62,000 | £63,000 |
To note:
1. Per-pupil expenditure is the average calculated from the national expenditure on place and top-up funding for the school types, per pupil with an EHC plan.
2. For maintained special schools and special academies the calculation uses the place funding rate of £10,000 per place plus the average top-up funding expenditure. by local authorities on those schools as recorded in their section 251 outturn data, per pupil as recorded in the January schools census.
3. For non-maintained and independent special schools the department has calculated the total expenditure from the £10,000 per-place funding allocated to non-maintained special schools and the total top-up funding expenditure by local authorities on those schools as recorded in their section 251 outturn data, per pupil with an EHC plan as recorded in our SEN2 data collection.
4. From 2023, the data collection for SEN2 changed from aggregated figures at local authority level, to a person-level collection. This has been a major change in approach and care should be taken with comparisons across this period because expenditure per pupil changes between 2021/22 and 2022/23 may include an effect from the EHC plan data collection methodology change.
The per-pupil expenditure amounts for children with EHC plans as set out in the table above are averages of a wide range of per-pupil funding levels that are different depending on the needs of the child and school they attend. It is the relevant local authority’s responsibility to decide how to allocate that funding and how much to allocate to each school.
Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Dudley Council is being allocated over £62 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £5.4 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the merits of increasing the funding per-pupil for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
From the 2018/19 financial year to 2023/24, the most recent year for which information is available, the average per-pupil expenditure on pupils with an education, health and care (EHC) plan in maintained special schools and special academies on the one hand, and non-maintained and independent special schools on the other, are set out in the tables below:
Per-pupil expenditure: Cash values (rounded) as at the time, not adjusted for inflation | ||||||
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Maintained special schools and special academies | £20,000 | £21,000 | £22,000 | £23,000 | £24,000 | £26,000 |
Non-maintained and independent special schools | £52,000 | £54,000 | £54,000 | £57,000 | £62,000 | £63,000 |
To note:
1. Per-pupil expenditure is the average calculated from the national expenditure on place and top-up funding for the school types, per pupil with an EHC plan.
2. For maintained special schools and special academies the calculation uses the place funding rate of £10,000 per place plus the average top-up funding expenditure. by local authorities on those schools as recorded in their section 251 outturn data, per pupil as recorded in the January schools census.
3. For non-maintained and independent special schools the department has calculated the total expenditure from the £10,000 per-place funding allocated to non-maintained special schools and the total top-up funding expenditure by local authorities on those schools as recorded in their section 251 outturn data, per pupil with an EHC plan as recorded in our SEN2 data collection.
4. From 2023, the data collection for SEN2 changed from aggregated figures at local authority level, to a person-level collection. This has been a major change in approach and care should be taken with comparisons across this period because expenditure per pupil changes between 2021/22 and 2022/23 may include an effect from the EHC plan data collection methodology change.
The per-pupil expenditure amounts for children with EHC plans as set out in the table above are averages of a wide range of per-pupil funding levels that are different depending on the needs of the child and school they attend. It is the relevant local authority’s responsibility to decide how to allocate that funding and how much to allocate to each school.
Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Dudley Council is being allocated over £62 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £5.4 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure that future NHS spending is proportional to the increased healthcare needs of people in areas of high deprivation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is responsible for funding allocations to integrated care boards (ICBs). This process is independent of the Government, and NHS England takes advice on the underlying formula from the independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation. The formula takes account of population, age, need, and deprivation and health inequality considerations. High deprivation areas receive more funding per capita than low deprivation areas, given other, similar circumstances. ICB allocations for 2025/26 were published on 30 January 2025, and are available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/allocations/
The 10 Year Plan will set out our ambitions to create a National Health Service that is there for anyone who needs it, whenever they need it. One in which access to, and experience of, healthcare services is equitable, effective, and responsive. The plan will be published later in the summer.
Departmental budgets beyond 2025/26 will be set through phase 2 of the Spending Review, which will conclude and be published in June. Future growth in demand is one of the factors taken into account.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the Winter Fuel Payment on living standards for pensioners in Harpenden and Berkhamsted.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is, protecting pensioners on the lowest incomes. Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or other qualifying means-tested benefits or tax credits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 or over.
The last Labour Government lifted over one million pensioners out of poverty, and this Government – despite having to make the tough decisions to deal with our dire inheritance - remains absolutely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement. Our commitment to the Triple Lock means that spending on State Pensions is forecast to rise by around £31 billion over this Parliament.
While the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people, other help is also available for low-income pensioners. This includes Cold Weather Payments in England & Wales and help with energy bills via the Warm Home Discount scheme, as well as the Household Support Fund in England, which we extended for a further year with funding of £742 million, with corresponding funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that neighbourhood policing funding allocations are proportionate to the (a) population size and (b) specific urban needs of each police force area.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has provided £200 million for 2025/26 to kickstart the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs by the end of the Parliament. Force-level allocations have been determined using the Police Funding Formula.
The approach in 2025/26 is designed to deliver an initial increase to the neighbourhood policing workforce in a manner that is flexible and can be adapted to the local context and varied crime demands. This means the precise workforce mix in the first year of the programme is a local decision.
All 43 forces submitted delivery plans in line with their force level allocations outlining projected increase in neighbourhood officers for year one of the four-year programme. All forces’ plans are therefore informed by a force-level understanding of what can be achieved.
The specific grant allocations and projections are available for each force on gov.uk through the following link: Neighbourhood policing grant allocations and projections: 2025 to 2026 - GOV.UK .
The local force baseline that growth must be achieved from has been set at 31st March 2025. Forces have developed delivery plans to benefit their neighbourhood policing teams in 25/26. The details of West Midlands Police allocations can be found on gov.uk on the link shared above.
To ensure that funding effectively contributes to neighbourhood policing aims and is limited to expenditure that is critical for the programme, funding must be used for personnel in roles that fulfil neighbourhood policing functions (defined by CIPFA Category 1A) and items that directly support them in their roles.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the per capita increase in neighbourhood policing across different police force areas; and if she will publish that data.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has provided £200 million for 2025/26 to kickstart the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs by the end of the Parliament. Force-level allocations have been determined using the Police Funding Formula.
The approach in 2025/26 is designed to deliver an initial increase to the neighbourhood policing workforce in a manner that is flexible and can be adapted to the local context and varied crime demands. This means the precise workforce mix in the first year of the programme is a local decision.
All 43 forces submitted delivery plans in line with their force level allocations outlining projected increase in neighbourhood officers for year one of the four-year programme. All forces’ plans are therefore informed by a force-level understanding of what can be achieved.
The specific grant allocations and projections are available for each force on gov.uk through the following link: Neighbourhood policing grant allocations and projections: 2025 to 2026 - GOV.UK .
The local force baseline that growth must be achieved from has been set at 31st March 2025. Forces have developed delivery plans to benefit their neighbourhood policing teams in 25/26. The details of West Midlands Police allocations can be found on gov.uk on the link shared above.
To ensure that funding effectively contributes to neighbourhood policing aims and is limited to expenditure that is critical for the programme, funding must be used for personnel in roles that fulfil neighbourhood policing functions (defined by CIPFA Category 1A) and items that directly support them in their roles.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the West Midlands Police’s per capita increase in neighbourhood officers for 2025/26 ranks (a) above or (b) below the national average.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has provided £200 million for 2025/26 to kickstart the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs by the end of the Parliament. Force-level allocations have been determined using the Police Funding Formula.
The approach in 2025/26 is designed to deliver an initial increase to the neighbourhood policing workforce in a manner that is flexible and can be adapted to the local context and varied crime demands. This means the precise workforce mix in the first year of the programme is a local decision.
All 43 forces submitted delivery plans in line with their force level allocations outlining projected increase in neighbourhood officers for year one of the four-year programme. All forces’ plans are therefore informed by a force-level understanding of what can be achieved.
The specific grant allocations and projections are available for each force on gov.uk through the following link: Neighbourhood policing grant allocations and projections: 2025 to 2026 - GOV.UK .
The local force baseline that growth must be achieved from has been set at 31st March 2025. Forces have developed delivery plans to benefit their neighbourhood policing teams in 25/26. The details of West Midlands Police allocations can be found on gov.uk on the link shared above.
To ensure that funding effectively contributes to neighbourhood policing aims and is limited to expenditure that is critical for the programme, funding must be used for personnel in roles that fulfil neighbourhood policing functions (defined by CIPFA Category 1A) and items that directly support them in their roles.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) police authorities and (b) police and crime commissioners were required to submit a formal bid or proposal to access funding under the 2025-26 Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has provided £200 million for 2025/26 to kickstart the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs by the end of the Parliament. Force-level allocations have been determined using the Police Funding Formula.
The approach in 2025/26 is designed to deliver an initial increase to the neighbourhood policing workforce in a manner that is flexible and can be adapted to the local context and varied crime demands. This means the precise workforce mix in the first year of the programme is a local decision.
All 43 forces submitted delivery plans in line with their force level allocations outlining projected increase in neighbourhood officers for year one of the four-year programme. All forces’ plans are therefore informed by a force-level understanding of what can be achieved.
The specific grant allocations and projections are available for each force on gov.uk through the following link: Neighbourhood policing grant allocations and projections: 2025 to 2026 - GOV.UK .
The local force baseline that growth must be achieved from has been set at 31st March 2025. Forces have developed delivery plans to benefit their neighbourhood policing teams in 25/26. The details of West Midlands Police allocations can be found on gov.uk on the link shared above.
To ensure that funding effectively contributes to neighbourhood policing aims and is limited to expenditure that is critical for the programme, funding must be used for personnel in roles that fulfil neighbourhood policing functions (defined by CIPFA Category 1A) and items that directly support them in their roles.