Kate Green responds to the NAHT survey showing a third of schools have made cuts

Kate Green MP, Labour’s (@UKLabour) Shadow Education Secretary, responding to the NAHT survey showing a third of schools have made cuts to balance their budgets this year, said 

“Conservative cuts have hammered school budgets during the last decade, delivering the biggest budget cut in 40 years.

“This is forcing schools to cut-back the support and the enriching extracurricular activities available to pupils, damaging life chances and holding children back. This is being exacerbated by the Government’s paltry catch-up support with tutoring reaching just 2% of pupils last year.

“Labour is ambitious for every child. Our bold Children’s Recovery Plan would deliver the tutoring, breakfast clubs and new activities, that every child needs to thrive. The Conservatives need to step-up, match Labour’s ambition and deliver for our children’s futures.”

Background

• “School spending per pupil in England fell by 9% in real terms between 2009–10 and 2019–20. This represents the largest cut in over 40 years” IFS 

• Labour has set out a comprehensive Children’s Recovery Plan to help every child bounce back from the pandemic. Labour’s plan would deliver:

  • Small group tutoring for all who need it

  • Breakfast clubs and activities for every child 

  • Quality mental health support for children in every school

  • Continued professional development for teachers to support pupils to catch up on lost learning, and

  • Targeted extra investment from early years to further education to support young people who struggled most with learning in lockdown