£1.7 billion needed to avoid cuts, unions tell Hunt

Ahead of the chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 22 November, four education unions have written to Jeremy Hunt to demand a big increase in funding for schools. In their letter, the leaders of the four unions – the ASCL, NAHT, NASUWT and NEU – urge Mr Hunt to ‘prioritise funding for education’ and point out that spending on education as a proportion of national income is at its lowest for more than 20 years. They suggest that the current proportion of 3.9 per cent also compares unfavourably with other developed nations, the OECD average being around 5 per cent.

The union leaders also say they are ‘deeply concerned’ that, following the recent correction of an accounting error, mainstream schools’ funding via the National Funding Formula will only rise by an average 1.9 per cent per pupil next year. They suggest this will be highly inadequate. Taking in to account inflation, and assuming pay awards equivalent to those given in 2023/24, the unions estimate that schools’ costs will rise by at least 5.8 per cent in 2024/25. ‘This overall increase in schools’ costs will require an increase in school funding of at least £1.7 billion in 2024-25 in order to recruit and retain teachers and protect schools and colleges from having to make further cuts in provision’, the letter concludes.

Last month Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated that his ‘main funding priority in every spending review from now on will be education’. This is quoted in the union leaders letter, and they urge the chancellor to make good on that commitment, writing: ‘In securing the Government’s vision for education as a driver for securing a more prosperous future for all, there is no more important time than now to ensure investment in schools, colleges and the education workforce.’

Full text of letter: https://tinyurl.com/2zakh96p