John has welcomed the fact that the Prime Minister has anticipated the Comprehensive Spending Review, which sets Government expenditure for the next years, by announcing a £14bn cash injection spread over three years for our schools.
John has previously noted that core funding for schools and high needs has risen from almost £41 billion in 2017-18 to £43.5 billion this year. However he continued to express his concern that schools in the constituency were still struggling and the increased education budget to date has simply not been felt. Figures seen to date suggest that the latest announcement will mean an increase of £2.6 billion for 2020-21 rising to an increase of £7.1 billion in 2022-23.
John said "Teachers should not have to make savings by increasing class sizes, reducing teaching hours, cutting pastoral support, and slashing service costs. Parents should not have to contribute towards running costs of their children’s school. These are figures that are better based on what it costs to provide education and go a long way to addressing the pressures faced by schools both now and historically. I would prefer the figure for each school to be a ‘hard figure’ whereby schools get the full amount they have been told to expect rather than the current ‘soft’ figure. I will continue to press for these changes with Government."
The new National Funding Formula which allocates money to schools is being used to address historic injustices. But John has pointed out that this needs to take into account those historic injustices of a capital nature such as the state of the schools. It also needs to recognise the difficulties for teaching staff in the high costs they face in Oxfordshire the likes of which are only seen in London.
John added "All this reflects my long-standing commitment to education in the constituency and more generally nationally. I have asked questions of Minsters, arranged meetings for teachers and school governors with Ministers, and been part of the f40 schools funding group which campaigns for fairer funding in education."
