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