Commenting on the Budget speech by Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“The additional funding announced today is a welcome injection, but still falls short of what is needed to rebuild education, including the investment needed to reverse pay cuts and tackle sky high workload.
“A commitment to continue the School Rebuilding Programme is important but the Chancellor’s investment is a small dent in the £40 billion cumulative cut to school capital funding since 2010. We are still decades away from a full rejuvenation of the school estate.
“The increase in funding for SEND of £1bn is also a much-needed step in the right direction. But it won’t stem the crisis in SEND, which can only be resolved through significant reform of the system itself. The Government is already engaged in that work and we are pleased to be discussing changes with it.
“Awarding just £1.3bn for mainstream schools, however, will put them in a very difficult position. Given the scale of the teacher recruitment and retention crisis and the historic low pay of support staff, this level of funding is insufficient.
“Post-16 was hit harder than other areas of education under the Conservatives. The additional £300 million for Further Education will enable colleges to match the 5.5% pay settlement agreed for school teachers. However, it falls far short of the investment necessary to grow the skills of a generation pivotal to future economic growth.
“Poverty makes it so much harder for children to realise their potential, in school and beyond. The failure to scrap the cruel and ineffective two-child benefit limit, which would lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty overnight, is truly disappointing.
“Breakfast clubs are a start but the Government needs to be much more ambitious and introduce universal free school meals, beginning with primary.
“Reversing the pay cuts and tackling sky high workload is critical to address the recruitment and retention crisis. It is the overriding issue in schools and colleges.
“The education system, from early years through to post-16, is in dire need of funding and support. We urge the Government to move much faster to reverse the cuts to education funding made under the Conservatives.”