Government expected to address funding shortages

Having promised to reverse cuts in school funding as part of his leadership bid, Boris Johnson’s government is expected to address growing concerns about school funding shortages soon.

There are suggestions that about £4 billion in extra funding, as a one-off, one-year cash injection, could be announced as early as next week by the Prime Minister. The schools investment would follow recent pledges of funding for the NHS and policing across England.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has previously suggested that schools had suffered budget reductions of eight per cent since 2010, despite the Department for Education maintaining that schools are receiving record levels of funding

While any funding will be welcome, critics are already claiming that providing more money for cash-strapped schools is merely a popularity ploy ahead of a possible autumn general election.

Geoff Barton, leader of the ASCL head teachers' union, said: "We would very much welcome any additional investment in education as this is desperately needed. It must be the start of a long-term phased uplift in funding to reverse education cuts and repair the damage that they have caused. We have worked with other education organisations to calculate that £12.6 billion is needed by 2022-23 across early years, primary and secondary schools, 16-19 education and high needs."