Commenting on the LGA’s report that a total of £118 million for
disadvantaged pupils could be lost from school budgets in England
this year due to a government change in how pupil premium funding
is calculated, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association
of School and College Leaders, said:
“The scale of the funding black hole left by the government’s
inexplicable decision to push ahead with a change to the way
pupil premium funding is calculated at the height of the pandemic
is now laid bare in these figures announced by the Local
Government Association.
“All schools will have seen financial loss as a result of this
administrative change but it has been most keenly felt in our
primary schools due to the larger amount available per
disadvantaged pupil. With budgets already severely stretched by
Covid-19, the last thing schools needed was the double whammy of
being hit in the pocket in this way.
“It was clear from the outset that school budgets would be
negatively impacted because the pandemic has particularly badly
affected disadvantaged families and has meant the number of
children qualifying for pupil premium has grown significantly.
Excluding those who qualified for funding between October 2020
and January 2021 has left schools counting the cost.
“The government is very keen to promote its levelling up and
education recovery agendas and one way it can easily demonstrate
its commitment is by ensuring schools are recompensed for the
pupil premium funding they have been so cruelly denied.”
