At Conservative Party Conference the Prime Minister said, “My main funding priority in every spending review from now on will be education. It is the best economic policy, the best social policy, and the best moral policy. It is the best way to spread opportunity and create a more prosperous society”. Then, earlier this week, he announced ‘delivering world-class education’ as one of his five economic priorities. Education is also one of the Chancellor’s ‘four Es’ of economic growth and prosperity announced earlier this year.  

However, yesterday’s budget hasn’t made education a priority. We made four asks of the Chancellor in our Open Letter, which evidence shows us will help us close the gap between poorer and wealthier pupils: 

• Bolster school funding so those funding streams meant to mitigate the impacts of poverty can better meet rising need, including by extending eligibility for Free School Meals and restoring real-terms funding to the Pupil Premium. 

• Introduce 30 hours of funded early years education for all three and four-year-old children, regardless of parental education or employment status.  

• Continue to invest in high-quality 1-1 and small-group tuition for the pupils who most need it.   

These were not met, nor were other measures introduced that might help us narrow the gap in educational outcomes between wealthier and poorer pupils, which stands at its highest point in a decade. 

Further, the overall lack of investment in public services in this budget is worrying. We know that a lack of resources for the services supporting the families in greatest need is a huge barrier to equality of opportunity, and to the ability of schools to provide a great education for every child. That’s why we called for better join-up and funding of the services supporting families in our Fair Education Manifesto. However, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that this Autumn Budget will result in a real terms £19bn reduction in public services spending. We worry that reductions to National Insurance contributions will exacerbate this. 

We do, however, welcome some of the spending commitments that were made in the budget. The announcement of £50 million for apprenticeship training over the next two years is positive, however we urge those developing the detail to consider how this funding can support the employability of disadvantaged young people, who face much higher levels of unemployment and find the tech industries mentioned in the budget particularly difficult to access.

We also welcome the 9.8% rise in the National Living Wage, which will enable working parents and carers to better provide for the basic needs of their children. However, this support does not extend to the children and young people with non-working parents or carers, or those who are in the care of the State.  

We encourage the Government to reflect on the interconnectedness in the services supporting families and children, and to invest now in giving all children the best opportunities, which will help the Government achieve its goal of a more prosperous future for the country.