PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
School Funding - 12 June 2023 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

Debate Detail

Contributions from Mohammad Yasin, are highlighted with a yellow border.
Lab
Mohammad Yasin
Bedford
18. What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for schools.
Nick Gibb
The Minister for Schools
We are committed to providing world-class schools. Total funding for both mainstream schools and special schools and alternative provision will total £58.8 billion by 2024-25: the highest ever level per pupil in real terms. That assessment has been confirmed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
  15:17:50
Mohammad Yasin
Liam, a teacher in my constituency, described the Government’s pay offer as akin to

“a mouldy carrot dangled in front of us to lead us back to the despair of the classroom.”

He works in a school that has had to make redundancies due to insufficient budgets. Does the Minister understand the impact that Government cuts to school budgets are having on children’s futures? Can he honestly say that he is giving all children equal opportunities?
Nick Gibb
The hon. Member will have seen that, in recent international surveys, standards are rising in our schools. We increased school funding by £4 billion last year, and this year it has increased by £3.5 billion. Taken over those two years, that is a 15% increase in school funding. Those of us on the Government side of the House want to have a well rewarded, well motivated teaching profession, because that is how we will ensure that standards continue to rise in our schools.

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