Four education unions – ASCL, NAHT, NASUWT and NEU - have written
to the Chancellor making the case for a significant increase in
school funding as part of the Autumn Statement on 22
November.
If schools do not receive a funding increase of at least £1.7
billion in 2024-25, they may not be able to recruit or
retain teachers, and will begin to cut essential
provision in order to survive.
The full text of the letter reads as follows:
The Rt Hon MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer
HM Treasury
1 Horse Guards Road
London
SW1A 2HQ
9 November 2023
Dear Chancellor
We write as leaders of trades unions representing the
overwhelming majority of headteachers and teachers in schools and
colleges to urge you to prioritise funding for education in your
forthcoming autumn statement.
The School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) 33rd Report highlighted
the importance of investing in teachers’ pay:
“Investment is needed to proactively manage the worsening
recruitment position and declining competitiveness of teacher
pay. It will be more cost-effective to act sooner rather than
later. The cost of failure is high: it affects teaching quality
and adversely impacts on children’s education... [S]alary
levels need to be sufficiently competitive if able graduates are
to be attracted and retained. There is strong empirical evidence
that they are not competitive enough.”
Indeed, the Prime Minister has also said:
“I can tell you: my main funding priority in every spending
review from now on will be education. Why? Because it is the
closest thing we have to a silver bullet. It is the best
economic policy, the best social policy, the best moral policy.
It the best way to spread opportunity and to create a more
prosperous society. It is not just my way. Conference, it is the
Conservative way.”
In securing the Government’s vision for education as a driver for
securing a more prosperous future for all, there is no more
important time than now to ensure investment in schools,
colleges and the education workforce.
We are deeply concerned that following the correction of an
accounting error, mainstream schools’ funding via the National
Funding Formula will only rise by an average 1.9 per cent per
pupil next year. This is well below the current rate of inflation
and will place even greater pressure on already over-stretched
school budgets. Currently schools will only be able to afford a
staff pay rise of one per cent in September 2024. We welcome your
decision to substantially increase the level of the National
Minimum Wage in April 2024; however, schools will not be able to
afford this without an increase in school funding.
We believe that you need to address the lack of education
investment. Currently we spend just 3.9 per cent of national
income on education. This is the lowest proportion for more than
twenty years and compares poorly with other developed nations,
the OECD average is 5 per cent. England’s schools have the
largest primary class sizes in Europe and secondary class sizes
are the highest since records began more than forty years
ago.
We call on you to prioritise education in your autumn statement.
We currently expect schools’ costs to rise by at least 5.8 per
cent in 2024-25, in the event of a pay award equivalent to
that awarded in 2023-24. This overall increase in schools’ costs
will require an increase in school funding of at least £1.7bn in
2024-25 in order to recruit and retain teachers and
protect schools and colleges from having to make further cuts in
provision.
Yours sincerely
Daniel Kebede, General Secretary, NEU
Geoff Barton, General Secretary, ASCL
Paul Whiteman, General Secretary, NAHT
Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary, NASUWT
