Today, the general secretaries of ASCL, NAHT, NASUWT and NEU have
written to education secretary about the revision of the
National Funding Formula (NFF) announced last Friday (6
October).
The letter argues that this reduction breaks a commitment made in
the House of Commons in July, and casts doubt on 's statement to his party
conference that "my main funding priority in every spending
review from now on will be education".
The four general secretaries call on the Government to honour its
commitment and restore the original NFF rates.
The full text of the letter is
below.
Rt Hon MP
Secretary of State for Education
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT
12 October 2023
Dear Secretary of State
Revision of the National Funding Formula
We are writing to you further to the revision of the National
Funding Formula (NFF) announced on Friday 6 October.
On 17 July, Schools Minister told the House of Commons
(1):
“Funding for mainstream schools through the schools NFF is
increasing by 2.7 per cent per pupil compared to 2023-24.
“The minimum per-pupil funding levels (MPPLs) will increase by
2.4 per cent compared to 2023-24. This will mean that, next year,
every primary school will receive at least £4,655 per pupil, and
every secondary school at least £6,050.
“The core factors in the schools NFF (such as basic per-pupil
funding, and the lump sum that all schools attract) will increase
by 2.4 per cent.”
On 6 October we were informed that there had been an error
resulting in an underestimate in forecasting pupil numbers, and
that the NFF tables issued in July were being revised and
republished to stay within the already announced Core Schools
Budget.
Funding for mainstream schools through the schools NFF will now
increase by just 1.9 per cent. (2) The minimum per-pupil funding
level for primary schools will be £4,610 (£45 less per pupil) and
for secondary schools it will be £5,995 (£55 less per pupil). The
core factors of the NFF will now only increase by 1.4 per
cent.
Government’s revisions to the NFF, in light of higher than
forecast pupil numbers, effectively reduce the value of the NFF
by £370 million. Schools are already having difficulty balancing
their books; some will now face the very real prospect of cuts to
provision.
Sustained investment in the nation’s schools is desperately
needed, after years of austerity. We took Mr Gibb’s statement to
the House as a Government commitment to schools and parents. In
both 2021 and 2022, the projected number of pupils varied from
the actual number of pupils counted in the census. On both
occasions the Government honoured the announced funding rates.
On Wednesday 4 October, Prime Minister told the Conservative Party
Conference: “And conference, I can tell you, my main funding
priority in every spending review from now on will be
education.”
In light of this, we call on your Government to meet that
commitment to invest in education, by honouring the commitments
your minister made and by restoring the original NFF rates. We
also request information on exactly when the Department for
Education realised there had been an error over forecasting pupil
numbers and when the decision was made to revise NFF rates.
Yours
sincerely
Daniel Kebede, NEU General
Secretary
Geoff Barton, ASCL General Secretary
Paul Whiteman, NAHT General Secretary
Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary
1. Hansard, School Funding Update, 17
July 2023 https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-07-17/hcws958
2. DfE, National funding formula for
schools and high needs 2024 to 2025, 6 October 2023, page 4
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/651d2587bef21800156ded01/National_funding_formula_for__schools_and_high_needs_2024_to_2025.pdf
