Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Rising Costs: Support for Schools

Monday 24 October 2022 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Government is investing 4 billion in the core schools budget this year.
  • Schools are included in the energy bill relief scheme.
  • Government is monitoring inflationary impacts on schools and holding ongoing conversations with educational leaders.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Charlotte Nichols Lab Warrington North
Education
Context

Schools in Warrington North face financial pressures due to inflation and increased costs for special educational needs and older school infrastructure. The current situation represents an effective 10% real-terms cut to this year's budgets, leading to concerns about balancing the books.

Question

What plans do you have to help support schools with rising costs?

Answer from Kit Malthouse

The Government are committed to supporting schools, investing £4 billion in the core schools budget this year. They have acted immediately on energy costs by including schools in the energy bill relief scheme and continue dynamic conversations with Treasury colleagues regarding school funding.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask for detailed representations made to the Treasury was not directly addressed.

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Q2 Charlotte Nichols Lab Warrington North
Education
Context

Schools in Warrington North face financial pressures due to inflation and increased costs for special educational needs and older school infrastructure. The current situation represents an effective 10% real-terms cut to this year's budgets, leading to concerns about balancing the books.

Question

Schools across my constituency face extraordinary financial pressures, particularly in special educational needs settings where costs per pupil are higher, and in older schools where the Government's failure to invest in the school estate means higher costs for heating and repairs. With inflation running out of control, which is an effective 10% cut in real terms to this year's budgets, senior management teams are desperately worried that they will not be able to balance the books, especially with higher demand for things such as breakfast clubs as parents feel the pinch. Can the Secretary of State please inform us what representations he has made to the Treasury to address the crisis in education funding?

Answer from Kit Malthouse

Notwithstanding the significant increase in the schools budget last year, we are monitoring the impact of those global inflationary forces on schools across the whole country. We are in constant conversation with leadership, unions and headteachers about their finances. When it became clear that schools would be severely impacted by the rise in energy costs, we acted immediately to ensure they were included in the energy bill relief scheme.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask for detailed representations made to the Treasury was not directly addressed.

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