Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Gavin Williamson and Layla Moran

Monday 9th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Layla Moran (Oxford West and Abingdon) (LD)]

11. What assessment he has made of the effect of VAT applied to college spending on the financial sustainability of those institutions.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Gavin Williamson)]

We have announced a £400 million increase in 16-to-19 funding in 2020-21; this is the biggest year-on-year increase since 2010 and will have great benefits for FE and sixth-form colleges. Colleges are independent organisations and are responsible for managing their own financial sustainability, which includes their liability for VAT.

[Layla Moran]

I thank the Secretary of State for his response, but does he believe, as I do, that no matter where a 16 to 19-year-old student studies they should have the same funding, resource and status, and if he does why do school sixth forms and 16-to-19 academies get their VAT refunded and the teacher pay grant but FE institutions, such as the brilliant Abingdon and Witney college in my constituency, do not?

[Gavin Williamson]

I am very conscious that this has been a long-running issue, and I remember from when I was a governor at a further education college the impact that this has. We are always looking at how we can reduce the impact, and that is why we have the funding settlement that we have achieved this year of £400 million plus £100 million for pension liability costs.

Education Funding

Debate between Gavin Williamson and Layla Moran

Tuesday 3rd September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is a critical point and the reason we were so keen to secure such a significant increase in funding for the 16-to-19 sector. The FE sector provides us with many opportunities to look at how we can invest more, create more opportunities for young people and ensure that people understand that pursuing a vocational career is just as important as pursuing academic interests.

[Layla Moran (Oxford West and Abingdon) (LD)]

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has described the Education Secretary‘s figure of £14 billion extra for schools as

“somewhere between meaningless and misleading.”

It calculates that the real-terms increase will be more like £4.3 billion by 2022-3. That is just enough to reverse the cuts that have been made since 2015, so eight years later schools will, in essence, receive nothing. Given the importance of numeracy to the national curriculum, does the Secretary of State regret not doing his sums properly?

[Gavin Williamson]

I know that the hon. Lady has long campaigned in the f40 group for changes in school funding, and I thought that my statement might give her an opportunity to welcome the changes that we have implemented, which will benefit her constituents so much. We have been very clear about the amount of money that we are providing: a total of £18.9 billion for schools, of which £4.5 billion will cover pension costs, with the additional half a billion pounds going to 16-to-19 education. We will of course work closely with the Institute for Fiscal Studies in explaining our figures.