Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the adequacy of the support provided to schools to help with rising utility costs.

The Department is in regular communication with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on all matters related to schools. The Chancellor announced in the 2022 Autumn Statement that core schools funding will increase by net £2 billion in 2023/24 and 2024/25. This increase in funding, on top of the funding awards previously announced at the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, means total schools funding will increase by 15% between 2021/22 and 2023/24 from £49.8 billion to £57.3 billion, nationally. These increases will deliver additional support to schools, helping to deliver on the Government’s commitment to levelling up education across the country.

Schools are also being supporting with energy costs over the winter months. From October 2022 to 31 March 2023, schools will benefit from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. This will provide a price reduction to protect them from high energy bills over the winter period.