Headteachers have expressed their anger that Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement contained “barely a mention of education” while schools across the country “are literally falling apart”.
The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on Wednesday contained only one new handout for the education sector – an extra £50m over next two years “to increase apprenticeships in engineering and other key growth sectors”.
It sparked widespread backlash from the education sector, with leading figures accusing the Chancellor of sweeping continuing problems like the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) crisis under the rug.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said he was “bitterly disappointed” by Mr Hunt’s failure to address major issues blighting the sector.
“Our schools are literally falling apart, thousands of children are being disrupted because of the crumbling concrete crisis, and large parts of the school estate are riddled with asbestos,” he said.
“Schools and colleges don’t have enough money to meet the likely cost of future pay awards at anything like the level which is needed to address severe and chronic staff shortages, and funding for special educational needs provision is miles short of what is needed to support our most vulnerable children and young people.
“Yet, none of these problems have been mentioned at all, let alone made a priority. It is lamentable.”
The Treasury has promised that schools with dangerous RAAC concrete will have the funding they need to do urgent repairs, but not wider refurbishment work.
In total, 214 schools have been identified as containing RAAC so far, though the figure is expected to rise. Labour raised concerns on Tuesday that the saga has resulted in significant learning disruption for thousands of pupils, with no apparent end in sight for many.
The Government is yet to provide a figure for how much repair work will cost, though it is estimated to be in the region of £1bn. i understands that no funding will be made available beyond this to address any other long-term issues with school buildings.
Mr Barton added that it was “clearly too much to hope for” that Rishi Sunak’s promise last month to make education the Government’s “silver bullet” would follow through with significant investment to improve the sector.
“We are bitterly disappointed that the Autumn Statement contained barely a mention of education,” he said.
“The Prime Minister said that education is the best economic policy, the best social policy and the best moral policy. It was clearly too much to hope that this rhetoric would translate into reality in the Autumn Statement.”
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), accused Mr Hunt of rolling out “more of the same”, after the Chancellor reiterated the Government’s plans to scrap A-levels in favour of a new baccalaureate-style qualification.
“More of the same is not good enough – and it certainly fails parents and young people, too,” he said.
“The Chancellor’s statement does nothing to repair the damage caused by 13 years of Conservative cuts. The Government will pay a heavy political price for continuing to ignore the problems it has created for educators, parents and young people.”
David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, also criticised Mr Hunt for sidelining education in an Autumn Statement purportedly focused on growing the economy.
He said it would put pressure on the Department for Education (DfE) to slash funding for the sector further despite “a decade of funding neglect,” in a move that would likely exacerbate the ongoing teacher recruitment and retention crisis.
The latest workforce survey by the DfE found that 40,000 teachers resigned from state schools last year – almost 9 per cent of the entire teaching workforce, and the highest number since it began publishing the data in 2011.
Mr Sunak pledged to tackle the crisis in his keynote speech at the Conservative Party Conference last month. He said his “main funding priority in every spending review from now on will be education,” adding that it was the “best way to spread opportunity and create a more prosperous society”.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), accused the Prime Minister of abandoning his vision for the sector, with “virtually nothing pledged for schools” on Wednesday.
“Yet another education promise has been broken immediately after being made. Far from being prioritised, as pledged by the Prime Minister at the Conservative Conference, education has apparently been sidelined in this announcement,” he said.
“If this Government expects schools and families to have any confidence it is serious about children’s education, we need to see action, not just empty words and promises.”