Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what financial support the Government is providing to schools to help address the cost of living crisis.

Overall, core schools funding, including funding for both mainstream schools and high needs, increased by £4 billion in the 2022/23 financial year compared to the previous financial year, which equates to a 7% cash increase in funding per pupil.

Schools will also benefit from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. This will reduce how much schools need to spend on their energy, and give schools greater certainty over their budgets over the winter months. The details of the scheme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bill-relief-scheme-help-for-businesses-and-other-non-domestic-customers.

The Department is also supporting schools with the school resource management (SRM) advice, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/schools-financial-health-and-efficiency. This includes a free range of practical tools and information to help all schools unlock efficiencies, which they can then reinvest based on their own priorities.

The SRM advice includes recommended deals for energy costs and ancillary services. The Department is also updating and strengthening guidance on a regular basis to inform schools of the market and commercial position, with practical advice on new and exiting existing contracts. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-help-buying-for-schools.

The Department knows that every school’s circumstances are different, and where schools are in serious financial difficulty, they should contact their Local Authority or the Education and Skills Funding Agency, who can provide advice and, in exceptional circumstances, financial support.