On Monday, Sara Britcliffe, Member of Parliament for Hyndburn and Haslingden, spoke in Parliament, asking the Government to confirm what assessment it had made of pressures on school budgets & the impact of high energy costs.
The question came following one of Ms Britcliffe’s regular roundtable meetings with headteachers in her constituency, where pressures on budgets and concerns about energy costs were raised. The MP works closely with schools in her constituency, regularly welcoming them to Parliament and visiting them in Hyndburn and Haslingden, as well as successfully campaigning recently for Schools Rebuilding Programme investment in Hyndburn Academy and Haslingden Academy.
The Government have confirmed that from April, the Energy Bill Discount Scheme will apply to schools, continuing to discount energy costs until March 2024. While the core schools budget will stand at £58.8billion by 2024/25, the highest per pupil level in real terms ever.
Sara Britcliffe MP asked:
I recently met with primary and secondary school heads and there was consensus amongst the heads that there are still significant concerns regarding budgets, how they fund pay awards and energy costs.
The autumn statement provided billions in extra support and the Energy Bill Discount Scheme [will do too].
Has the Secretary of State made an assessment of how this will help the budgets going forward and whether it will relieve the financial pressures.
Schools Minister, Nick Gibb MP said:
The new Energy Bills Discount Scheme will mean that any school facing energy costs above the price threshold will receive a discount on their energy bills until the 31 March 2024. In addition the extra funding announced at the Autumn Statement, £2billion, will help schools manage higher costs, including higher energy bills.
The Core Schools Budget will total £58.8billion by 2024/25, the highest ever level in real terms, per pupil.
