(The Minister of State for School
Standards):Today I am confirming school and early years
revenue funding allocations for 2020-21 through the Dedicated
Schools Grant (DSG), published yesterday. This follows a statement
by the Secretary of State for Education on 3 September, which
confirmed to Parliament that the funding for schools and high needs
will, compared to 2019-20, rise by £2.6 billion for 2020-21, £4.8
billion for 2021-22, and £7.1 billion for 2022-23. That is on top
of £1.5 billion we are providing each year to fund additional
pensions costs for teachers, bringing the total schools budget to
£52.2 billion in 2022-23.
The distribution of the DSG is set out in four blocks for each
local authority: a schools block, a high needs block, an early
years block, and a central school services block. In October
2019, I informed Parliament of the publication of primary and
secondary units of funding for the schools block, and provisional
allocations for the high needs block and central school services
block. In the DSG, these have now been updated with the latest
pupil numbers to show how much each local authority will receive
in 2020-21. Today’s publication also provides initial 2020-21
allocations for the early years block, following the early years
national funding formula rates for 3- and 4-year-olds I confirmed
in October.
Finally, I am confirming the government’s commitment to level up
school funding by ensuring that every secondary school receives
at least £5,000 per pupil, and every primary school at least
£3,750 per pupil in 2020-21. The DSG allocations provide for this
additional funding, and today the government has published its
response to a consultation which finalises the arrangements local
authorities must follow in delivering mandatory minimum per pupil
levels to the relevant schools in their local area, thus
delivering one of the key pledges given by the Prime Minister
during the General Election.
As well as supporting the lowest funded schools, this change
marks an important first step in our plans to implement a ‘hard’
National Funding Formula, whereby schools receive what they
attract through the national formula, rather than through
different local authority funding formulae. We will consult on
the further steps needed to deliver those plans in due course,
and will work closely with local authorities and other
stakeholders in making the transition carefully and smoothly.
