Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much money has been saved by reviewing the budget of the Department for Education.

The department has made some tough decisions to ensure every pound of taxpayers’ money is driving high and rising standards for our children. By ending tax breaks for private schools, and undertaking a robust line-by-line budget review to identify poor value for money spend, we are able to deliver this investment in recruiting and retaining more expert teachers in our classrooms. We have driven efficiency through increasing digital capability both inside and outside of the department, reducing central headcount and removing duplication within programmes.

As we have made clear throughout the pay process, we are also asking schools and colleges to do their part in ensuring that we are driving productivity across all areas of the public sector, ensuring resources are deployed intelligently to maximise support for teaching and learning, freeing up educators to focus on what matters most, which is providing every child with the high quality education they deserve.

Schools will be expected to find approximately the first 1% of pay awards through improved productivity and smarter spending to make every pound count. There will be those who say this cannot be done, but schools have a responsibility, like the rest of the public sector, to ensure that their funding is spent as efficiently as possible.