23 November 2016

Commenting on the Chancellor’s statement, Kevin Courtney, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“The Chancellor’s statement is a huge disappointment for schools and colleges. We desperately need a significant increase in education funding to protect schools and colleges against the impact of inflation and the higher pension and national insurance costs being imposed by the Government.

“The Government is not protecting education funding – it remains on course to inflict significant real terms cuts. Schools and colleges are already being hit, with job cuts and increasing class sizes. Teacher pay and conditions remain under attack, even as the recruitment and retention crisis intensifies and pupil numbers continue to rise.

“With schools facing 8% real terms cuts by 2020, we urgently need extra resources to support any changes to the school funding system. With 16-19 funding having been cut in real terms year after year since 2010, we need to restore the value of 16-19 funding and to provide real support for sixth form colleges. We need proper funding for SEND and to support early years spending. We need an end to the funding gap in Wales.

“All that Philip Hammond has done today is restate his commitment of £50m in new capital funding to support grammar schools. With 83% of schools already finding themselves worse off since the Conservatives took office, it is irresponsible to drive all additional money towards Theresa May’s pet project. (1)

“Without significant extra resources, any new funding formula - such as that promised - will simply lead to the current insufficient amount of money being spread more thinly. This will leave almost all schools significantly worse off than they are so far.

“The Chancellor says he recognises the need for investment to drive productivity, and that the Government aims for a high-wage, high-skill economy. If the Government really believed in these aims, it would have announced the reversal of its real terms education cuts and instead announced additional investment in education so that the potential of our children and young people can be developed for the good of our economy and society. The NUT will continue to campaign for increased investment in our schools and colleges.”

Editor’s Note:

An NUT analysis published yesterday shows that 83% of schools are already worse off: https://www.teachers.org.uk/news-events/press-releases-england/school-funding-22-11-16

The NUT and ATL have been warning that 92% of schools will be worse off in real terms by the end of this Parliament: http://www.schoolcuts.org.uk/#/