Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 3
3
We are concerned that financial pressures faced by schools could damage children’s education.
Recommendation
We are concerned that financial pressures faced by schools could damage children’s education. Research by Ofsted in 2019 found that a high proportion of headteachers reported reducing staffing levels, narrowing the curriculum and changing how they support pupils with SEND because of financial pressures. We have heard similar examples of our own local schools having to curtail provision, such as cutting teaching assistants, to balance the books. Some of these actions risk harming education. The Department asserts that pupil-teacher ratios and the hours taught in different subjects have remained largely stable at national level. It acknowledges, however, that there is cause for concern about a small number of subjects, such as design technology. We also note that the pupil-teacher ratio has in fact risen in secondary schools. The Department’s school resource management initiatives aim to help schools to squeeze non-staff spending rather than cutting back on education provision. To date, however, it has not properly researched the impact of cost pressures on schools. The ESFA has now committed to carrying out its own study to assess the impact on provision of the measures adopted by schools in response to financial pressures. Recommendation: In carrying out its research, the ESFA should collect sufficient, reliable evidence on the impact of financial pressures on schools at local level, including on whether they are leading to schools narrowing their curriculum and reducing staffing. The Department should set out, in its Treasury Minute response, when it plans to publish the results of the ESFA’s research.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
3: PAC conclusion: We are concerned that financial pressures faced by schools could damage children’s education. 3: PAC recommendation: In carrying out its research, the ESFA should collect sufficient reliable evidence on the impact of financial pressures on schools at local level, including on whether they are leading to schools narrowing their curriculum and reducing staffing. The department should set out, in its Treasury Minute response, when it plans to publish the results of ESFA’s research. 3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Target implementation date: March 2023 3.2 The department (rather than the ESFA) will commission research on how a sample of schools has experienced and responded to previous financial pressures and on the anticipated impact of the additional funding announced for schools. The sample will be broadly representative of school types (local authority-maintained; Single Academy Trusts; schools in Multi-Academy Trusts); phase (primary/secondary); proportions of disadvantaged pupils and those with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND); and area deprivation. The research is likely to be based on semi-structured interviews with school leaders and school business professionals, which will involve asking objective questions about the anticipated impact of the additional funding announced for schools and whether financial pressures have been experienced, when and in what circumstances, what the effects have been (including whether their curriculum breadth and staffing levels were affected) and how the school sought to manage the pressures. 3.3 The research will take place in schools early in the 2022-23 academic year (ie October-November 2022) with analysis and reporting completed by end-January 2023 and publication expected by end-March 2023. Starting the research earlier would carry a risk that financial pressures associated with current increases in the costs of living would be missed.