Labour has accused Conservative Schools Minister, Nick Gibb MP, OF
giving “misleading” answers on the impacts of a ‘stealth cut’ to
pupil premium funding, which Labour has estimated could see schools
miss out on as much as £133 million in funding. Responding to
questions from a cross-party committee on MPs on Thursday [29
April] the Schools Minister claimed schools would not lose out “as
a direct consequence” of Government’s decision to change the date
for...Request free trial
Labour has accused Conservative Schools Minister, MP, OF giving “misleading” answers on the impacts of a
‘stealth cut’ to pupil premium funding, which Labour has
estimated could see schools miss out on as much as £133 million
in funding.
Responding to questions from a cross-party committee on MPs on
Thursday [29 April] the Schools Minister claimed schools would
not lose out “as a direct consequence” of Government’s decision
to change the date for calculating pupil premium.
Conservative Ministers have changed the date for calculating
pupil premium funding - allocated to support children on free
school meals or who are looked after to achieve at school -
meaning any child who has become eligible for free school meals
since 1st October 2020 could miss out. With increasing
eligibility expected as the November lockdown and Christmas
restrictions hit household budgets, thousands of children are
expected to lose out on extra support.
Labour analysis of FOI responses from half of local authorities
shows an estimated 118,000 pupils have become eligible for free
school meals between October and January. Primary school
headteachers have previously reported that they expect to lose
out on more in pupil premium than they are getting in “catch-up”
funding, with one primary school in Barking and Dagenham missing
out on nearly £40,000, more than half of which is due to
increased eligibility among reception pupils.
, Labour’s Shadow Schools Minister, said the
statements are “tantamount to calling headteachers liars” for
standing-up for their pupils and the school funding they need.
The Schools Minister also told MPs that they “don’t know” the
impact of the change to pupil premium because “those figures
haven’t been calculated yet."
However, previous reports show the Department for Education
responded to a FOI request stating the Department has information
“regarding an assessment of the financial impact of the change in
pupil premium collection date", but stated that the information
is being "withheld".
Labour’s Shadow Schools Minister, , said
“This Conservative Government is playing fast and loose with the
truth to avoid being honest with the public and owning-up to the
damage they’re doing to our schools.”
“The pupils most likely to have struggled to learn remotely will
now miss out on the extra support they need from their teachers.
This is just disgraceful.
“The Minister should correct these misleading statements and
immediately disclose their estimate of the funding schools will
lose.”
Ends
Notes to editors
- Pupil Premium is the mechanism by which schools get extra
government funding to help them improve the outcomes of pupils
classed as disadvantaged. Schools receive £1,345 for every
primary age pupil, or £955 for every secondary age pupil who
claims free school meals or who has claimed free school meals in
the last 6 years, and £2,345 for every pupil who has left local
authority care through adoption, a special guardianship order or
child arrangements order https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium/pupil-premium
- At the Education Select Committee, responding to a question
on whether any school will lose out because of the change to
pupil premium, said:
"Not as a direct consequence of the change – whether a school
gets more or less pupil premium will depend on its own
circumstances, … we don’t know the actual consequence of moving
to October 2020 from January 2021 because those figures haven’t
been calculated yet."
https://www.tes.com/news/schools-wont-lose-out-over-pupil-premium-funding-change
- An NAHT survey of primary school headteachers found 62% of
1,316 respondents had 5 or more pupils who become eligible for
pupil premium between the October 2020 and January 2021 census.
Currently, primary schools receive £1,345 for each child eligible
for pupil premium, so the lost funding for 5 pupils is £6,725 –
more than the £6,000 ‘catch-up’ funding allocated to primary
schools on average.
https://www.naht.org.uk/news-and-opinion/press-room/schools-covid-19-recovery-funding-wiped-out-as-a-result-of-changes-to-pupil-premium-naht-reveals/
- On 16 April, Tes reported on an FOI response from the
Department for Education which says the Department has
information “regarding an assessment of the financial impact of
the change in pupil premium collection date", but this is being
"withheld".
https://www.tes.com/news/pupil-premium-funding-cut-exclusive-dfes-valuation-stealth-cut-kept-secret
- FOI responses have been received from a 46% of local
authorities, showing that over 51,000 children have become
eligible for pupil premium since October. Using £1,150 as the
average of the disadvantage pupil premium rate for primary
(£1,345) and secondary (£955), this means schools will be losing
out on an estimated: £ 61,181,150 in funding. Applying this
nationally, it suggests 118,224 children could have become
eligible for support since October 2020, worth up to £133
million.
|
Local Authority
|
Oct-20 FSM
|
Jan-21 FSM
|
Change
|
% Change
|
Potential funding for these pupils
|
|
Birmingham
|
66,811
|
69,840
|
3,029
|
4.5%
|
3483350
|
|
Manchester
|
31,950
|
33,876
|
1,926
|
6.03%
|
2214900
|
|
Hampshire
|
26,384
|
28,080
|
1,696
|
6.43%
|
1950400
|
|
Norfolk
|
19,649
|
24,344
|
4,695
|
23.9%
|
5399250
|
|
Derbyshire
|
22,440
|
24,308
|
1,868
|
8.3%
|
2148200
|
|
Liverpool
|
21,768
|
22,978
|
1,210
|
5.6%
|
1391500
|
|
Nottinghamshire
|
21,172
|
22,612
|
1,440
|
6.80%
|
1656000
|
|
Suffolk
|
17711
|
18681
|
970
|
5.48%
|
1115500
|
|
Surrey
|
16,703
|
17,768
|
1,065
|
6.38%
|
1224750
|
|
Dudley
|
16,291
|
17,607
|
1,316
|
8.08%
|
1513400
|
|
Newham
|
15,875
|
17,352
|
1,477
|
9.3%
|
1698550
|
|
Bristol City of
|
15,604
|
16,961
|
1,357
|
8.7%
|
1560550
|
|
Newcastle upon Tyne
|
14,429
|
15,528
|
1,099
|
7.62%
|
1263850
|
|
Cambridgeshire
|
14,437
|
15,427
|
990
|
6.86%
|
1138500
|
|
West Sussex
|
13,384
|
14,455
|
1,071
|
8.0%
|
1231650
|
|
Southwark
|
13,173
|
14,286
|
1,113
|
8.45%
|
1279950
|
|
East Sussex
|
13,099
|
13,862
|
763
|
5.8%
|
877450
|
|
Worcestershire
|
13,113
|
13,784
|
671
|
5.12%
|
771650
|
|
Cornwall
|
12,411
|
13,625
|
1,214
|
9.78%
|
1396100
|
|
Wakefield
|
12,170
|
13,019
|
849
|
7.0%
|
976350
|
|
Lewisham
|
12,969
|
12,969
|
0
|
0.0%
|
0
|
|
Wirral
|
12,137
|
12,758
|
621
|
5.12%
|
714150
|
|
Coventry
|
11,826
|
12,529
|
703
|
5.9%
|
808450
|
|
Kingston upon Hull City of
|
11,667
|
12,466
|
799
|
6.85%
|
918850
|
|
Lambeth
|
11,387
|
11,979
|
592
|
5.20%
|
680800
|
|
Barking and Dagenham
|
10,685
|
11,681
|
996
|
9.3%
|
1145400
|
|
Hackney
|
11,195
|
11,631
|
436
|
3.89%
|
501400
|
|
Derby
|
10,776
|
11,425
|
649
|
6.02%
|
746350
|
|
Wigan
|
10,627
|
10,910
|
283
|
2.7%
|
325450
|
|
Hillingdon
|
8,830
|
9,930
|
1,100
|
12.46%
|
1265000
|
|
Barnsley
|
8,950
|
9,439
|
489
|
5.46%
|
562350
|
|
Cheshire West and Chester
|
8,215
|
9,299
|
1,084
|
13.2%
|
1246600
|
|
Northumberland
|
7,033
|
9,048
|
2,015
|
28.7%
|
2317250
|
|
Milton Keynes
|
8,359
|
9,037
|
678
|
8.11%
|
779700
|
|
Sefton
|
8,447
|
9,027
|
580
|
6.87%
|
667000
|
|
Haringey
|
8,126
|
8,690
|
564
|
6.94%
|
648600
|
|
Wiltshire
|
8,293
|
8,689
|
396
|
4.8%
|
455400
|
|
Dorset
|
8,200
|
8,566
|
366
|
4.46%
|
420900
|
|
Solihull
|
7,820
|
8,378
|
558
|
7.1%
|
641700
|
|
Brent
|
7,184
|
8,219
|
1,035
|
14.4%
|
1190250
|
|
Hounslow
|
7,632
|
8,155
|
523
|
6.9%
|
601450
|
|
Camden
|
7,591
|
8,018
|
427
|
5.63%
|
491050
|
|
Cheshire East
|
7,270
|
7,658
|
388
|
5.3%
|
446200
|
|
Stockport
|
7,030
|
7,581
|
551
|
7.84%
|
633650
|
|
Blackpool
|
7,132
|
7,502
|
370
|
5.2%
|
425500
|
|
Bexley
|
6,640
|
7,121
|
481
|
7.2%
|
553150
|
|
Gateshead
|
6,743
|
7,038
|
295
|
4.37%
|
339250
|
|
Telford and Wrekin
|
6,555
|
6,691
|
136
|
2.1%
|
156400
|
|
Stoke-on-Trent
|
6,133
|
6,496
|
363
|
5.9%
|
417450
|
|
South Tyneside
|
6,091
|
6,443
|
352
|
5.8%
|
404800
|
|
Merton
|
5,769
|
6,223
|
454
|
7.9%
|
522100
|
|
Blackburn with Darwen
|
5,946
|
6,198
|
252
|
4.24%
|
289800
|
|
St. Helens
|
5,903
|
6,066
|
163
|
2.76%
|
187450
|
|
Southend-on-Sea
|
5,646
|
6,027
|
381
|
6.75%
|
438150
|
|
Sutton
|
5,601
|
5,962
|
361
|
6.4%
|
415150
|
|
Trafford
|
5,359
|
5,902
|
543
|
10.13%
|
624450
|
|
Shropshire
|
5,457
|
5,854
|
397
|
7.3%
|
456550
|
|
Hammersmith and Fulham
|
5,119
|
5,549
|
430
|
8.40%
|
494500
|
|
Thurrock
|
4,975
|
5,524
|
549
|
11.04%
|
631350
|
|
Slough
|
4,892
|
5,374
|
482
|
9.9%
|
554300
|
|
Bedford
|
5,069
|
4,977
|
-92
|
-1.8%
|
-105800
|
|
North Somerset
|
3,990
|
4,214
|
224
|
5.6%
|
257600
|
|
Darlington
|
3,934
|
4,066
|
132
|
3.4%
|
151800
|
|
Bath and North East Somerset
|
3,991
|
3,991
|
0
|
0.0%
|
0
|
|
Peterborough
|
3,147
|
3,626
|
479
|
15.2%
|
550850
|
|
Herefordshire
|
3,254
|
3,451
|
197
|
6.1%
|
226550
|
|
Isle of Wight
|
3,110
|
3,368
|
258
|
8.30%
|
296700
|
|
West Berkshire
|
3,014
|
3,251
|
237
|
7.9%
|
272550
|
|
Warrington
|
2,149
|
2,247
|
98
|
4.6%
|
112700
|
|
City of London
|
36
|
43
|
7
|
19.44%
|
8050
|
|
Doncaster
|
11,289
|
Refused
|
|
|
|
|
Barnet
|
9,910
|
Not held
|
|
|
|
|
Rotherham
|
9,737
|
Not held
|
|
|
|
|
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council
|
8285
|
Not held
|
|
|
|
|
Rutland
|
506
|
No Answer
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
786,205
|
799,679
|
53,201
|
|
61,181,150
|
|
National impact estimate
|
|
|
118224
|
|
133002500
|
|
