Unions respond to lack of education investment in Spring Budget

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has delivered his Spring Budget, and while it introduces funding for the early years and childcare sector, it did not provide funding for schools, despite ungoing industrial action for teacher pay and school funding.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said: "It is bitterly disappointing that the Chancellor has squandered the opportunity to support schools in the budget.

"We are in the middle of one of the most serious recruitment and retention crises we have seen for decades, and we have a school estate that is literally crumbling in places. Rather than addressing those obvious and pressing priorities, the government has chosen to focus on what appears to be a half-baked scheme to extend wraparound care in schools that won’t take effect for another three years.

"Once again, we are left with the feeling that this government is detached from the reality of what is actually going on in our schools."

Commenting on the Chancellor’s Budget statement, Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said: 

“Investing in the education of this generation of children and young people, those hit so hard by Covid, is essential to economic recovery. Government, however, has turned its back on them. There is a continued failure to make the investment in education that is needed.

“Schools still have lower real-terms per pupil funding than in 2010. This is an unprecedented squeeze on school finances. The Government have cut capital spending by £32.3bn since 2010, leaving schools in a state of disrepair with thousands in an extremely poor state.

“If we are to tackle the serious recruitment and retention problems and repair the damage to education, major changes are needed to the Government’s unjustified and dangerous austerity policies. Improving pay for ordinary people is not only essential to defending them against the impact of the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades – it is also essential to support spending power and economic growth. On today’s evidence, the Government clearly prefers austerity policies despite the damage they cause. 

“Teachers and support staff have suffered greatly from attacks on the public sector. Significant real-terms pay cuts since 2010 have directly contributed to the recruitment and retention crisis in education. Lower inflation tomorrow does nothing to repair the damage wreaked by rocketing inflation to date.

“The Government should be supporting and valuing our members for the vital job they do, but instead they undermine it. The Chancellor could raise huge amounts through fair wealth taxes, including equalising capital gains with income tax rates, and invest this in education for the good of the country as a whole. He chooses not to. These are political choices that will compound the damage to public services, including our education service. 

“The NEU’s demand for fully funded, above-inflation pay rises for teachers and support staff in schools and colleges is also supported by parents. They know that a Government which fails to invest properly in education also fails our young people and damages our economy. Today’s budget statement shows that this Government is ignoring the consequences of political choices it has made. The public will hold the Government to account for that damage. Gillian Keegan needs to start negotiating with us if we are to turn this ship around.

"Working parents in the UK face much higher childcare costs than families in Europe. Increasing affordability must not come at the expense of quality or the largely female childcare and early years workforce. The change to the cap for parents who are eligible for Universal Credit is a good step, which the NEU has recommended, but the sector overall has serious shortfalls in funding which undermine viability. We need the Government to fund all entitlements sufficiently, so parents do not have to pay high ‘top-up’ charges to cover costs.”

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, meanwhile says "We heard the Chancellor announce £11 billion for defence and not a penny to address the teacher recruitment and retention crisis affecting our schools and colleges, or resolve the associated industrial action that is taking place as the Chancellor was speaking. The government appears to be inhabiting a parallel universe in which it seems utterly complacent about the pressure on schools, colleges and many other public services.
 
“Most schools and colleges are experiencing severe teacher shortages as a result of real-terms pay cuts since 2010 and increasing workload pressures.
 
“Postgraduate teacher recruitment is a disaster with the Department for Education missing its target for secondary teachers by 41% in 2022/23. The overall target for postgraduate teacher recruitment has been achieved only once since 2015/16 and this was during the abnormal circumstance of the Covid pandemic in 2020/21. Nearly one-third of teachers leave teaching within five years of qualifying and 40% within 10 years.
 
“Teachers are the lifeblood of the education system. What will it take for the government to take action to improve recruitment and retention?
 
“We welcome the additional investment in childcare announced in today’s Budget and will now look closely at the detail. We would urge the Department for Education to also look into how it supports high-quality educational provision as part of this commitment as this is key to closing attainment gaps between rich and poor.”