Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 15
15
In 2018, our predecessor Committee, in light of its concerns about the wider issues affecting...
Conclusion
In 2018, our predecessor Committee, in light of its concerns about the wider issues affecting the school system, asked Ofsted to reflect on the main risks to schools’ effectiveness and the systemic causes of poor performance, including the impact of funding pressures.32 In response, in 2019, Ofsted carried out qualitative research into the potential risks to the quality of education and school effectiveness when schools are under financial pressure, and the ways that schools respond to financial pressure. In its research, Ofsted found that schools had made difficult decisions in response to financial pressures, including reducing spending on staff, learning resources and premises. It found that 46% of primary headteachers and 81% of secondary headteachers reported that their school had reduced teacher numbers in response to financial pressures in 2017–18 and 2018–19. In addition, 80% of primary headteachers and 72% of secondary headteachers reported making changes to the support provided to pupils with SEND because of financial pressure.33
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.