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Question
Asks about the timeline for an independent review, how findings will be reported to the House, why notification was delayed until after the Conservative party conference, support schools will receive, and takes issue with blaming officials instead of Ministers.
Minister reply
Apologises for the error but clarifies that no money has been taken out of the overall school budget. Reiterates that funding remains at £59.6 billion for 2024-25. Defends rising standards in schools against Labour's criticism.
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Question
Acknowledges the error but asks about plans to deliver direct funding of schools and multi-year funding settlements.
Minister reply
Confirms intentions to move towards a direct funding formula as outlined in recent national funding formula and high needs technical briefing.
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Question
Critiques the Minister's long tenure, suggesting he should resign.
Minister reply
Responds that today there are 468,000 teachers in schools, which is 27,000 more than when the Government came to office in 2010.
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Question
Naturally, this error is very disappointing, but I welcome that the Department has rectified it speedily. What steps is my right hon. Friend taking to work with school stakeholders to communicate the change and to support schools and local authorities?
Minister reply
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right: it was unfortunate. Officials notified me of the error immediately, and we corrected and published the figures within four weeks compared to the usual six weeks for NFF calculation.
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Question
Earlier this year, the Sutton Trust reported that half of school leaders said they had already been forced to cut back on trips and outings. What is the Minister doing to make sure that young people in state-funded schools still have access to cultural experiences?
Minister reply
The figures published in July were indicative; final figures will be determined by December. Over 2021-24, school funding increased by 20%. We also have a cultural education plan under development.
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Question
For the benefit of the House, can he confirm that civil servants who discovered the mistake made it known to Ministers at the first possible opportunity? Does this reflect credit on our parliamentary democratic system?
Minister reply
Civil servants notified me immediately. We corrected the error and published details swiftly. This reflects well on our parliamentary democracy.
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Question
The Department for Education has faced failures impacting children, parents, teachers. Does the Minister agree that it is high time the Secretary of State offered an apology to the British public?
Minister reply
Issues like RAAC and SEND have been addressed promptly. We published a Green Paper and implementation plan for special educational needs.
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Question
Will he confirm that, even after this error is corrected, all schools in the country will have enough money to fund the teachers’ pay award agreed by the Government?
Minister reply
The 6.5% pay award for teachers is fully funded with £525 million extra funding this year and £900 million next year.
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Question
Cambridgeshire schools are among the lowest funded in England, now receiving £4.4 million less than expected. What will he do to compensate them for recalculating their budgets?
Minister reply
We aimed to get recalculation done as soon as possible due to Cambridgeshire's lower funding based on deprivation levels.
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Question
Meadgate Primary School is part of an academy trust with a £70,000 difference between expected and actual funding. Given the high needs funding has doubled, will he raise this backlog in assessments with the children’s Minister?
Minister reply
I will raise EHCP backlogs with my hon. Friend; we are also building more free special schools to accommodate severe special educational needs.
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Question
A child growing up in deprivation is on average likely to do worse through our school system. Will this Government get a grip on the problem of deprivation?
Minister reply
We have spent record amounts on school funding, closing the attainment gap by 13% and 9% before the pandemic for primary and secondary schools respectively.
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Question
Will my right hon. Friend set out what the percentage increase for high needs areas will be in 2024-25, compared with this year?
Minister reply
Funding is increasing by £3.9 billion in 2022-23 and by £1.8 billion in 2024-25, combined with a £4 billion increase between 2021-22 and 2022-23, representing a 20% increase over that period.
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Question
I wrote to the Secretary of State at the beginning of August, asking for a meeting to discuss special educational needs funding issues in Harrow. Can he explain specifically how much schools in Harrow will now not receive, compared with what they had expected to receive? Will he encourage the Secretary of State to respond to my letter, and to do so with generosity?
Minister reply
No funding is being reduced in Harrow. All areas are receiving significant increases in school funding. The error is about the allocation figures for 2024-25, which have been corrected. Special educational needs funding has increased significantly over the past few years to address pressures local authorities face with increasing numbers of EHCPs.
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Question
How will the Government help headteachers in Slough and across the country deal with the extra stress and pressure on account of this error, especially when they have to make difficult decisions on staffing and additional support for pupils who need it?
Minister reply
The actual allocations to schools happen in December each year. Local authorities inform schools based on October census figures. The record funding of £59.6 billion equates to an average of £5,300 per primary school pupil and £6,830 per secondary school pupil.
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Question
The Minister’s argument is incoherent and his maths is appalling. Can I suggest he goes into detention and fixes this matter because schools in Tameside, Stockport and Manchester desperately need that cash?
Minister reply
Funding allocated for local authorities is ringfenced. This is an allocation and calculation issue corrected as soon as the error was made. Any Labour Members would have reacted similarly.
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Question
This blunder is going to cost schools in York dear. Will the Minister bring forward a fair funding formula to ensure that children in my constituency with SEND have fair funding allocated to them?
Minister reply
I understand concerns of parents with children with special educational needs and disabilities. Funding for high needs has increased significantly, with over £10 billion now allocated to local authorities. The national funding formula allocates 10.2% based on deprivation factors and 17.8% on the basis of additional needs.