(6 years, 8 months ago)
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Wes Streeting (Ilford North) (Lab)
It is astonishing that Brexit, the single biggest risk to the economy, merited only two sentences in the Chancellor’s otherwise uneventful spring statement. If the economy and economic outlook are so rosy, perhaps he can explain why almost every school in my constituency is facing budget cuts, why my local NHS trust is in special measures, and why, when my constituents are crying out in the face of one of the worst waves of burglaries we have ever seen, the police are not responding because the Metropolitan police is subject to real-terms budget cuts. Is that not the grim reality facing our country, and is it not set to get worse because of the hard Brexit course his Government are following?
Mr Philip Hammond
No. The Government are pursuing a Brexit that protects British jobs, British businesses and British prosperity, as the hon. Gentleman well knows. We have protected school funding so that it will rise in real terms per pupil over the next two years, and as we move to the fair funding formula for schools, every school will receive a cash increase. The police settlement on which the House recently voted provides £450 million of additional resource for police forces across the country. We have protected police budgets since 2015.
[Official Report, 13 March 2018, Vol. 637, c. 735.]
Letter of correction from Mr Philip Hammond:
An error has been identified in the response that I gave to the hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting).
The correct response should have been:
Mr Hammond
No. The Government are pursuing a Brexit that protects British jobs, British businesses and British prosperity, as the hon. Gentleman well knows. We have protected school funding so that it will rise in real terms per pupil next year, and as we move to the fair funding formula for schools, every authority will be funded to enable every school to receive a cash increase. The police settlement on which the House recently voted provides £450 million of additional resource for police forces across the country. We have protected police budgets since 2015.
The following is an extract from the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s spring statement on 13 March 2018.
Mr William Wragg (Hazel Grove) (Con)
My right hon. Friend has struck the right balance between the need for financial discipline and the justifiable need for investment in public services. With that in mind, will he ensure in the autumn Budget that additional funds are provided for schools to ensure the successful implementation of the national funding formula, which we welcomed in Stockport?
Mr Philip Hammond
When she was Education Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening) announced that the fair funding formula would be introduced in a way that would protect per capita spending per pupil, and we would guarantee that every school would receive a cash-terms increase. That guarantee stands today.
[Official Report, 13 March 2018, Vol. 637, c. 742.]
Letter of correction from Mr Philip Hammond:
An error has been identified in the response that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove (Mr Wragg).
The correct response should have been:
Mr Hammond
When she was Education Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening) announced that under the fair funding formula every authority will be funded to enable every school to receive a cash-terms increase.