Autumn Budget 2024

ISBL welcomes the Government's commitment to protecting elements of education funding and the increases as set out in HM Treasury Autumn Budget 2024. The budget is both prudent and pragmatic.

However, whilst we are sympathetic to the fiscal context, we are also concerned that the budget fails to adequately address some of the ongoing cost pressures and the significant challenges faced by the sector — in particular, those related to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), capital, and recruitment and retention.

Given the pressures on our country’s public finances, yesterday’s budget announcements and current plans in relation to SEND, capital investment, core funding, and the education workforce are understandably not as ambitious as we would have hoped. However, we remain hopeful that the Government will correct this in future budgets once economic stability is restored.

For now, we intend to work closely with the Department for Education and will be actively supporting you, our members, to ensure there is a limited detrimental effect on the outcomes for learners and young people as Labour navigates its way towards shoring up our country’s finances and promoting economic stability.

These are headlines from the budget announcement:

• Core schools budget will increase by £2.3 billion
• £1 billion of the £2.3 billion is earmarked for SEND
• The Government has committed to an education capital investment of £6.7 billion for 2025–26 — £1.4 billion will be used to fund the existing school rebuilding programme, and £2.1 billion will be used for school maintenance
• A further £1.8 billion has been allocated to support the expansion of government-funded childcare, with an additional £15 million of capital funding allocated to expand school-based nurseries
• Breakfast clubs funding up to £30 million
• We remain unclear about funding arrangements to cover the announced 1.2% increase in employer National Insurance contributions