Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 16
16
We have heard examples of local schools taking steps such as cutting staff, particularly teaching...
Conclusion
We have heard examples of local schools taking steps such as cutting staff, particularly teaching assistants, and reducing provision for pupils with SEND, in order to make savings.34 We also received written evidence from stakeholders in the sector about how schools had responded to financial pressures and the damaging impact that these measures could have on the support schools could provide. The National Education Union said that, faced with cost pressures, the major levers schools could pull were linked to staffing, which meant cuts in teacher and support staff jobs, increased pupil-teacher ratios, larger class sizes and reduced curriculum options. It considered these actions harmed education.35 The National Association of Head Teachers reported that many schools had reduced budgets over a number of years to move to a surplus position at lower levels of expenditure, masking the impact of cuts, particularly to both teaching and support staff.36 And a secondary school headteacher wrote to tell us that real-terms reductions in funding had impacted pupil class sizes which had grown significantly, and had increased teacher workload which affected the school’s ability to attract and retain teachers and leaders.37
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.