The issue

There has been 15 years with no overall growth in school spending. This squeeze on school resources is effectively without precedent in post-war UK history.
Schools are now facing new and significant cost pressures e.g. surging energy prices, covid-related costs, falling primary pupil numbers, the National Insurance increase, and pressures due to significant underfunding of SEND.
Changes to the government’s national funding formula (NFF) have seen a redistribution of funding away from schools serving the most deprived communities in recent years.
Funding for pupils with special educational needs (SEND) is in crisis, with overall High Needs budget deficits estimated to be more than £2billion and growing
The value of pupil premium funding designed to support the most disadvantaged pupils has fallen in real-terms since 2015.
The government has only invested a small fraction of the covid recovery funding that its own recovery commissioner said would be required.
Between 2009-10 and 2021-22, capital spending declined by 25% in cash terms, and 29% when adjusted for inflation.
Specific types of schools including small schools and maintained nursery schools remain under extreme financial pressure and many of facing the real risk of closure.

What we want to see

The government needs to be more ambitious for schools and set out a proper funding plan that addresses the 15 funding squeeze.
The government needs to offer more support for schools experiencing severe financial pressures as a result of rising energy costs.
The government should set out a proper long-term capital funding plan to bring all schools up to ‘good’ condition.
The government should commit to a truly ambitious recovery plan based on the work of its own recovery commissioner.
The government should commit to at least restoring pupil premium funding in real-term terms, and increasing the Early Years Pupil Premium to reach parity with the primary pupil premium.
A consultation on the long-term future of the approach to maintained nursery school funding should be launched without delay.
The government must use the ling-awaited SEND review to develop a truly needs-led approach to SEND funding.
Sufficient and sustainable funding for small schools.

What we want you to do

Convene an MPs roundtable in your region (see our briefing document on how here)
Write to your MP using our template letter
Share the PowerPoint and other resources (see below) with your school leader networks and governing body
Let us know when you plan to run local campaign activity so that we can help you promote the event and support you
Promote your campaigning work across Twitter using the campaign hashtags (#) and including @NAHTnews
Get active in your NAHT branch
If your colleagues aren’t members of NAHT already, encourage them to join

Our conference motion

“Conference instructs National Executive to develop a national fair funding campaign to press government to provide a sufficient overall level of funding to meet the needs of all pupils, through the national funding formula and the high needs national funding formula. This is required now to enable schools to set budgets from 2022-2023. It would allow them to meet all their statutory responsibilities and provide an extended curriculum offer that supports all children and young people to thrive academically, socially, physically and spiritually.

Conference further instructs National Executive to campaign for an increase in capital funding that will address the nation’s decrepit school estate, to ensure that school buildings and grounds are safe, fit for purpose and appropriate for the needs of the 21st century.”

Useful links

MP roundtable resources

Relevant articles and reports

Breaking Point: A report of the school funding crisis in 2016/17

NAHT has released the results of a second survey of members on school funding. Over a thousand school leaders responded with information about their budgets for 2016/17.

School budgets are close to breaking point

Russell Hobby, general secretary of school leaders union NAHT, said: "School budgets are being pushed even closer to breaking point than before. The number of schools currently in deficit has more than doubled since our 2015 survey, with nearly three quarters of school leaders only able to balance their budgets by making cuts or dipping in to reserves.

"Schools are acutely feeling the impact of an estimated £3bn shortfall in the government's education budget by 2020 – the first real terms cuts to education spending since the 1990s. 98 per cent of schools are losing funding, at a time when costs are rising and pupil numbers are growing. 72 per cent of school leaders say their budgets will be unsustainable by 2019.

"The government must take urgent action and commit to funding schools sufficiently in the next Budget. It is time to stop viewing education spending as a cost and to start seeing it as an investment in England's future, and in our children's."

What did we find?

NAHT's Breaking Point survey for 2016/17 shows that:

The number of schools currently in deficit has more than doubled since our 2015 survey (up 10 percentage points from 8 per cent to 18 per cent)

Nearly three quarters (71 per cent) of school leaders are only able balance their budgets by making cuts or dipping in to reserves.

72 per cent of school leaders say their budgets will be unsustainable by 2019.

Increases in payroll costs as a result of government policies were cited as schools' biggest financial pressures. These costs went up in 2015 and have resulted in an increase to school budgets of over 5.5 per cent every year, but there has been no resulting increase in funding from the government.

47 per cent of survey respondents reported the decline of local authority services as a cost pressure on schools, in particular the abolition of the Education Services Grant (ESG) to local authorities which is being passed through to schools. 65 per cent of academy school leaders told us they are concerned about the impact of cuts to ESG.

The third most quoted source of financial pressure reported by school leaders was the cost of dealing with the additional needs of pupils, reported by 83 per cent of respondents. Members have expressed serious concerns about the extra pressure they are facing to support the growing number of children with mental health issues.

The most commonly reported cost saving was reducing investment in equipment, which 85 per cent of respondents said they were having to do.

The impact of austerity on health and social care

James Bowen, director of middle leaders' union NAHT edge, said:

"Almost four fifths of our survey respondents told us that they currently provide support for children with mental health issues directly, stepping in where cuts in health and social care funding have failed to meet the growing demand for support.

Staff in our schools are being asked to be doctors, police officers, social workers and family support assistants as well as teachers. They cannot do this without additional resources."

What do members think about school funding in 2016/2017?

Bernadette Hunter, head teacher at William Shrewsbury Primary in Burton-upon-Trent, said: "The removal of the Educational Services Grant, wage inflation, increases in pension and National Insurance contributions, the apprenticeship levy and cost of living increases, are all leading to a real terms cut for schools. Costs are rising at a time of stagnant budgets, and the new funding formula, that we hoped would help, will see our school lose £38,000 – a teacher's salary. This is devastating. The funding formula will fail if there is not enough money put into it and children's learning will suffer."

Liam Collins, head teacher, Uplands Community College, Wadhurst, East Sussex, said: "The protected per student funding is not protected. This year we received £4,664 per student, and this flat cash settlement is what we will receive for the foreseeable future. This is well below the national average, even under the new funding formula. With inflation and unfunded cost increases we only have £4,431 to spend on each pupil. To our overall budget this is a cut of £208,711, which in three years rises to our school being under funded by £350,000. In simple terms this is a cut of 10 teachers, fewer clubs, no pastoral support, a narrowed curriculum, no counselling for students struggling with mental health issues, crumbling buildings, no IT upgrades, no new text books and no school planners. Eventually this will impact on student outcomes. This is not about fair funding, but enough funding for all schools to operate."

The full report is available to members and can be accessed below.