Today, 17 November 2022, the government and challencor Jeremy Hunt outlined their autumn budget. Below is NGA's comment on the plans outlined in the announcement for the school system.
Steve Edmonds, Director of Advice and Guidance, at the National Governance Association (NGA) said:“The Chancellor has today announced that the schools budget in England will receive an additional £2.3 billion of funding in 2023-24 and £2.3 billion in 2024-25.
The government is also taking the reforms set out in the Skills for Jobs White Paper and steps to ensure the education system provides the skills current and future employers need.
NGA welcomes the announcement of additional funding for the schools budget over the next two years. It appears that the government has listened to the many voices, including those governing our schools and trusts, who have been saying that the overall level of investment in schools is insufficient to meet the cost of maintaining provision, the staff schools need to employ and the infrastructure and estate they maintain.
However, we need to study the detail. It is too early to say whether today’s announcement does enough to help boards balance their budgets and schools and trusts financially sustainable in a difficult economic climate. It is a much-quoted fact that given the effect of inflation, the level of funding schools receive per pupil is less than in 2010.”