Open Letter to the Chancellor:
Invest in children and young people
Dear Chancellor,
This Government has staked its success on achieving its missions, and we’ve seen promising first steps toward this in the Government’s Plan for Change. We write today to ask for investment in better understanding and addressing the root causes of educational inequity, as well as targeted investment to make the system fairer for those in it now. The Fair Education Alliance’s 300 cross-sector members share the Government’s view that education is central to breaking down barriers to opportunity. However, educational equity is crucial to the Government achieving each of its missions. To have sustained growth and to make Britain a clean energy superpower, our education system must set young people up to capitalise on the Youth Guarantee by delivering the skills needed in tomorrow’s economy. To build an NHS fit for the future, we need to address the social determinants of health, education being one of the most significant. To make Britain’s streets safe, we need to address the reasons why young people engage in criminal activity, including school exclusions and unemployment. To achieve any of these missions, we must give every young person in the country a fair education – one that prepares them to thrive in work and life.
We understand the challenging position of our public finances, and that tough choices are necessary. However, children and young people – especially those from low-income households, who have the odds stacked against them in terms of academic outcomes, skills, and employment – cannot miss the chance to reach their potential. All children will become the foundations of tomorrow’s economy, the fabric of tomorrow’s communities, and the parents of tomorrow’s children.
We were pleased to see the Plan for Change announce substantial investment in early years education, including an uplift to the Early Years Pupil Premium. Yet, the gaps between children and young people from low-income households and others remain, right across the education journey. We must invest in closing the gaps – and in tackling the drivers of those gaps – by providing immediate and targeted support while building systems for a fairer future.
We call on the Chancellor to:
1. Understand how to better meet a range of rapidly rising special educational needs so we can stabilise school budgets while improving educational and employment outcomes for young people. The current system for serving pupils with special educational needs is unsustainable and accounts for a rapidly increasing percentage of school budgets, meaning that schools are finding it more difficult to pay for other costs associated with teaching, learning and staff. Most importantly, this isn’t resulting in the best outcomes for young people – either with or without a diagnosis. We know that there is a substantial gap in attainment for pupils with SEND at every stage, and they are far more likely to become NEET. To understand how to intervene early and support a range of needs through all phases of education, we need a more nuanced understanding of why some types of special needs are increasing. Joint research by the Department for Health and Social Care and the Department for Education is a necessary piece of this.
2. Target funding to mitigate the impacts of child poverty on education:
Extend free school meals eligibility to all children whose families are eligible for Universal Credit, because those eligible for Universal Credit are much more likely to face food insecurity.
Institute a national auto-enrolment system for free school meals, because 200,000 eligible children currently go unregistered.
Establish a 16-19 Student Premium, because education and training are mandatory to 18, but targeted disadvantage funding ends at 16.
3. Invest in data to help us understand the holistic experiences of young people, and what’s having an impact, including through a National Children’s Wellbeing Measurement Programme, so schools, colleges, and other organisations have the information they need to support pupil belonging and help every pupil thrive for the full duration of their time in education.
4. Fund programmes that support services to work together for families in their communities, including expanding the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme, and embedding a common outcomes framework to underpin the Government’s investments in data.
The work to close the gaps is long-term and requires strategic focus and changes in practice from all of society. In this spending review, we ask that the Chancellor consider investments that will pay dividends for our children – and for society – in years to come. Only when we give every child a fair start will the Government see its missions achieved and sustained.
Signatories:
Gina Cicerone, CEO, Fair Education Alliance
James Robertson, National Director, #BeeWell
Jen Fox, CEO, Action Tutoring
Louisa Mitchell MBE, Chief Executive, AllChild
Hilary Spencer, CEO, Ambition Institute
Natalie Moore, CEO, Apps for Good
Oliver Briggs, CEO, Arts Education Exchange
Pepe Di'lasio, General Secretary, ASCL
Tabitha Witherick, Chief Executive, Association of Senior Children's and Education Librarians
Nell Byron, Director and Co-Founder, Be Her Lead
Liz Robinson, CEO, Big Education
Alison Palmer, Director, Book Clubs in Schools
Emily Jack, CEO, Bookmark Reading Charity
Diana Gerald MBE, CEO, BookTrust
Evie Keough, Founder and CEO, Boromi
Laura Gray, CEO, Brightside
Dr Andrew Campbell, Chief Executive, Brooke Weston Trust
Denise Barrows, Director, BTS Spark UK
Juliette Collier, National Director, Campaign for Learning
Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa, CEO, Career Ready
Kirsty McHugh, CEO, Carers Trust
Dr Sam Holmes, CEO, Causeway Education
Michael Norton CBE, Director, Centre for Innovation in Voluntary Action
Vanessa Longley, CEO, Chance UK
Emma Bell, CEO, Chapter One
Leigh Elliott, Chief Executive, Children North East
Isabel Greenwood, CEO, Children's Literacy Charity
Sonjia Peers, CEO, Children's University Trust
Charlie Stainforth, CEO and Founder, Circl
Joe McGinn, CEO, CoachBright
Dr Kathryn Wright, CEO, Culham St Gabriel's Trust
Zenna Hopson, CEO, Dallaglio RugbyWorks
Margaret McCabe, Founder and CEO, Debate Mate Schools Limited
Kathryn Mills, CEO, Delight Charity
Elizabeth Anderson, CEO, Digital Poverty Alliance
Katie Bareham, Katie Bareham, Doorstep Library
David Boyle CBE, CEO, Dunraven Educational Trust
Gail Brown, CEO, Ebor Academy Trust
Mohamed Ahmed, CEO, Education and Skills Development Group
Matthew Shanks, Trust Lead, Education South West
Anthony Harmer, Chief Executive, ELATT
Elisabeth Paulson, CEO, Envision
Paul Singh, CEO, Equal Education
Diarmuid Molloy, CEO, First Star Scholars
Anne Parker, CEO, Foundation Years Trust
Sherry Coutu CBE, Chairman, Founders4Schools
Aimée Allam, Executive Director, FT Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign
Sue Riley, CEO, Future First
Dr Alice Eardley, Interim CEO, Get Further
Angela Salt OBE, CEO, Girlguiding
Hannah Stolton, CEO, Governors for Schools
Donald Barrell, CEO, Greenhouse Sports
Liz West, CEO, Initio Learning Trust
Rachel Carr, CEO, IntoUniversity
Katy Isaac, Charity Manager, Jacari
Jamie Feilden and Jake Curtis, Co-CEO, Jamie's Farm
Tom Bowtell, Director, KIT Theatre
Tara Coffin, Director, Learn to Love to Read
Tom Harbour, CEO, Learning with Parents
Professor Teresa Cremin, Co-Director Literacy and Social Justice Centre, The Open University
Jude Williams, CEO, Literacy Pirates
Dr Lindsey MacDonald, Chief Executive, Magic Breakfast
Rob Lightfoot, CEO, National Association for Able Children in Education
Paul Whiteman, General Secretary, NAHT
Emma Balchin, Chief Executive, National Governance Association
Melanie Renowden, CEO, National Institute of Teaching
Sam Sims, CEO, National Numeracy
Graihagh Crawshaw-Sadler, CEO, Now Teach
Arti Sharma, CEO, nurtureuk
Paul Napthine, CEO, Oarsome Chance
Helen Donohoe, Chief Executive, PACEY
Jason Elsom, Chief Executive, Parentkind
Hannah Baker and Wendy Tabuteau, Co-CEOs, Partnership for Children
Dr Sally Smith, CEO, Peeple
Catherine Roche, Chief Executive, Place2Be
Julie Randles, CEO, Power2
Jerrel D Jackson, CEO, Powered by CAN
Chris Higgins, Chief Executive, Quest for Learning
Ben Hilton, CEO, ReachOut
Ali Henderson, CEO, Royal National Children's SpringBoard Foundation
Grace Lockrobin and Emma Swinn, Co-Directors, SAPERE (The Society for the Advancement of Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education)
Lucy Williams, Head of Early Years, Save the Children
Jaine Stannard, Chief Executive, School- Home Support
Matilda Lawrence-Jubb, Development Director, Split Banana Education
Sue Williamson, Chief Executive, SSAT
Neena Lall OBE, Headteacher, St Stephen's Primary School
Connor Bourne, CEO, Success4All
Vince Green, CEO, Summit Learning Trust
Kate Shelley, Founder and CEO, Tales Toolkit
Mark Farmer, Director, Talk the Talk
Russell Hobby, CEO, Teach First
Katrina Elizabeth Morley OBE, CEO, Tees Valley Education
Anna Searle, CEO, The Access Project
Richard Gill CBE, CEO, The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership
Susie Whigham, Interim CEO, The Brilliant Club
Peter Leonard, Chief Executive, The Centre for Emotional Health
Dame Alison Peacock, CEO, The Chartered College of Teaching
Amy Whitelock Gibbs, Chair of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition and CEO, Tutors United
Jill Attenborough, CEO, The Country Trust
Charles Bryne CBE, Director-General, The English-Speaking Union
Ed Ikin, CEO, The Ernest Cook Trust
Paul Walker, CEO and Trust Leader, The First Federation Trust
Becca Dean MBE, CEO, The Girls' Network
Emma Sheppard, Founder, The MTPT Project
Lucy Stephens, Director, The New School
James Murray, CEO, The Ormiston Trust
Karen Napier MBE, Chief Executive, The Reading Agency
Olivia Richards, CEO, The Story Project
Nick Harrison, Chief Executive, The Sutton Trust
Megan Hunter, CEO, The Switch Charity
Jenni Anderson, Chief Executive, The Talent Foundry
Ed Marsh, CEO, The Tutor Trust
Dawn Ferdinand and Sarah Harris, Co-Headteachers, The Willow Primary School and Broadwaters’ Children’s Centre
James Murphy, Co-Founder, Thinking Reading
Dr Tim Coulson CBE, Chief Executive, Unity Schools Partnership
Nick Bent, CEO, upReach
Gaby Sumner, Chief Executive, Villiers Park Educational Trust
Dr Kate Paradine, CEO, Voice 21
Sarah Pugh, Chief Executive, Whizz Kidz
Christine Kinnear, CEO, With Insight Education
Navdeep Sanghara, CEO, Woodland Academy Trust
Luke Watson, CEO, XLP
Sarah Porretta, Chief Executive, Young Enterprise
Ali Oliver MBE, CEO, Youth Sport Trust