Post-16 Education and Skills: Funding

Earl of Effingham Excerpts

Thursday 2nd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord. I anticipated his question. Yes, of course, we are very mindful of increasing pressures and costs—particularly energy, as he mentioned. There is a package of support going into the whole education sector, including better purchasing policy, collaboration with other institutions and looking at reducing the need to heat our schools. Of course, the cost of the heatwave is another factor at the moment. We are very mindful of those costs and in deep discussions with the sector, as we speak.

[The Earl of Effingham (Con)]

My Lords, to be clear, teachers deserve the best deal possible for their brilliant work, but yesterday the Government brought forward a 6.5% increase, bringing their overall pay rise to 17% since the election. The issue is that schools are expected to fund 1% of this increase through efficiency savings. School budgets have already been squeezed by national insurance rises and, as the noble Lord, Lord Mohammed, said, increasing energy costs; now they are being asked to make more savings to fund government spending. Would it not be incrementally beneficial to cut just a sliver of the welfare bill to fund this pay increase, instead of placing even more pressure on our already struggling schools?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

The announcement was made only yesterday, so we are still in conversations with all the relevant parties. But in this large sector, there is welcome surprise at the actual numbers that were announced, in a very difficult fiscal climate. I hope that teachers recognise the real esteem in which we hold them and the important role that they have. There are always tough choices to be made and we will address the wider implications, as the noble Earl suggests.