Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget speech.
“We are pleased that the Chancellor has announced that the two-child benefit limit will be scrapped. Its introduction eight years ago by a previous administration has been a disaster for hundreds of thousands of children who have been plunged, or pushed deeper, into poverty. Schools and colleges see the impact of this every day with pupils arriving who are cold, hungry, poorly clothed, and living in inadequate housing. This not only detrimentally affects the wellbeing of these children, but also impacts on their readiness to learn. Getting rid of this damaging policy is a step in the right direction – morally, socially, and educationally – and comes on top of the welcome decision to expand the eligibility of free school meals to every pupil whose household is on Universal Credit. The government deserves recognition for these major policy decisions in a tight financial climate. It has shown resolve on behalf of some our most vulnerable youngsters. However, there is still much work to do to reduce the appallingly high rate of child poverty in the UK.
“Turning to the parlous state of education funding, it is deeply disappointing that there was nothing in the Budget speech which recognised or addressed the huge financial pressures on schools and colleges. While we understand that departmental spending has been set in the longer-term spending review earlier this year, we do not think this is sufficient for the future, and certainly doesn’t address the problems happening right now – with many settings having to cut educational provision in order to balance the books. The Chancellor’s announcement of more money for school libraries and playgrounds – welcome though this is – amounts to a drop in the fiscal ocean. Schools and colleges desperately need government action now as well as a commitment to improved and strategic investment in the future. The government cannot continue to ask schools and colleges to do more with less.
“We are very concerned to see that the Office for Budget Responsibility has warned the government that its plans to absorb the full cost of SEND provision into existing departmental spending in 2028-29 would imply a 1.7% real fall in mainstream school spending per pupil. This would clearly have a catastrophic impact on educational provision and it is imperative that the government sets out how it intends to address this issue as a matter of urgency.”