has today set out his plan to
ensure that both historically underfunded primary and secondary
schools will receive more funds if he becomes Prime
Minister. Committing to reverse the 2015 education cuts,
will today pledge that if he
is elected Prime Minister:
- The real terms education cuts will be reversed, with school
funding increasing by £4.6bn per annum by 2022/23
- The floor for per pupil funding for primary schools shall be
increased to £4,000.
- The floor for per pupil funding for secondary schools shall
be increased to £5,000.
said:
"The 2016 referendum result was a clear cry from many people
that they have been left behind. As Conservative councillors and
members all over the country know, for too many years, schools in
rural regions have received much less funding than schools in other
parts of the country.
"By making sure we leave the EU on 31 October, we can make sure
that we level up all parts of the UK, invest in our schools and
close the opportunity gap in our country.’
ENDS
Notes to Editors
1. BORIS HAS ALREADY COMMITTED TO REVERSING THE 2015
EDUCATION CUTS
- At the launch of his leadership campaign, Boris made clear
that he would seek to reverse the real-terms education cuts that
were introduced in 2015. According to the IFS: ‘Between 2015–16
and 2017–18, school spending per pupil was frozen in cash terms,
which translated into a real-terms cut of around 4%’ (IFS,
September 2018, link).
- According to the think tank Onward: ‘After
accounting for inflation, funding provided direct to schools per
student is 4% below its peak in 2015. This rises to 8% if you add
in authority services and sixth forms… Restoring the 8% to return
to peak real spend per pupil would cost about £3.5 billion. Pupil
numbers are currently expected to rise by 2.3% between 2019–20
and 2022–23. Keeping spending per pupil constant in real terms
over this horizon would thus cost about £1 billion in 2019–20
prices or £1.1 billion if one had returned to the peak first (and
thus had a higher base spend in 2019–20). Doing everything and
keeping real spend per pupil at its peak level would thus cost
about £4.6 billion a year by 2022–23’ (Onward, May
2019, link).
-
Boris will commit to reversing the real term cuts by
2022, increasing funding by £4.6bn per annum by that
year.
2. MAKING SURE THAT ALL PRIMARY
SCHOOLS RECEIVE £4,000 PER PUPIL
- In 2019-20 the new funding formula will provide for a minimum
per-pupil funding level of £3,500 for every primary school (H.M.
Government, link). If he becomes
Prime Minister, Boris commits to making sure that the per pupil
for primary school children is set at £4,000 per pupil.
- There are currently 64 local authorities out of 150 that have
per pupil primary school funding levels that are less than £4,000
per pupil. These are primarily rural areas, and include: Bath and
North East Somerset; Bedford Borough; Bexley; Bolton;
Bournemouth; Bracknell Forest; Brighton and Hove;
Buckinghamshire; Bury; Cambridgeshire; Central Bedfordshire;
Cheshire East; Cornwall; Darlington; Derby; Derbyshire; Devon;
Dorset; East Riding of Yorkshire; East Sussex; Essex;
Gloucestershire; Hampshire; Hertfordshire; Kent; Leeds;
Leicestershire; Lincolnshire; Medway; Milton Keynes; North
Somerset; North Tyneside; Northamptonshire; Nottinghamshire;
Oxfordshire; Plymouth; Poole; Reading; Richmond upon Thames;
Rutland; Solihull; Somerset; South Gloucestershire;
Southend-on-Sea; St Helens; Staffordshire; Stockport;
Stockton-on-Tees; Suffolk; Surrey; Swindon; Telford and Wrekin;
Thurrock; Torbay; Trafford; Warrington; Warwickshire; West
Berkshire; West Sussex; Wiltshire; Windsor and Maidenhead;
Wirral; Wokingham; Worcestershire; and York.
- Increasing the per pupil funding to £4,000 will cost £306m
above current spend.
3. MAKING SURE THAT ALL SECONDARY SCHOOLS RECEIVE £5,000
PER PUPIL
- If he becomes Prime Minister, Boris commits to making sure
that the per pupil funding for primary school children is set at
£5,000 per pupil.
- There are 33 local authorities out of 150 that have per pupil
secondary school funding levels that are less than £5,000 per
pupil. Again, these are mostly rural areas and include: Derby;
Barnsley; Bath and North East Somerset; Bracknell Forest;
Buckinghamshire; Bury; Cambridgeshire; Cheshire East; Devon;
Dorset; East Riding of Yorkshire; Gloucestershire; Hampshire;
Herefordshire; Kent; Leicestershire; North Somerset; North
Yorkshire; Oxfordshire; Rutland; Shropshire; Solihull; Somerset;
South Gloucestershire; Staffordshire; Stockport; Warrington;
Warwickshire; West Berkshire; West Sussex; Wiltshire; Wokingham;
Worcestershire; York;
- As of 2019, increasing the per pupil funding to £5,000 will
cost £49m above current spend.
