Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 9 May (HL7985), in the light of their policy of not cutting the education budget of individual schools, what extra funding they are providing to schools to support the increase in the on-costs on teachers’ salaries in the last three years.

At the Spending Review we announced we would protect the core schools budget in real terms during this Parliament. Schools are expected to manage within their individual budgets, including taking account of national insurance and pension contributions. From 2017 we have committed to introduce a national funding formula so that we can allocate funding more fairly, based on schools’ individual needs and the characteristics of their pupils. That will mean schools are better placed to manage cost pressures and to make informed decisions about their spending over a longer term.