A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales said that the Welsh Government should agree a timescale for all schools to meet the 'fit for purpose' standard.
Source: Capital Investment in Schools, Public Accounts Committee/National Assembly for Wales
Links: Report | WAG press release
Date: 2010-Dec
A research note examined the issues raised by the coalition government's proposed 'pupil premium' in England (under which schools would be given additional funding linked to the admission of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds). The pupil premium would only add to a substantial already-existing premium associated with pupils eligible for free school meals, and was therefore a less radical policy than sometimes portrayed. Although freeing schools from local authority influence, a national funding formula could be seen as a centralization, and mechanization, of decisions hitherto negotiated locally.
Source: Ben Durbin, School Funding and the Pupil Premium: What changes will the new system bring?, National Foundation for Educational Research
Links: Note | NFER press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2010-Dec
The government announced that the total funding available for the 'pupil premium' (extra money targeted at pupils in England from deprived backgrounds) would be £625 million in 2011-12, rising each year until 2014-15 when it would be worth £2.5 billion. The level of the pupil premium would be £430 per pupil and would be the same for every deprived pupil, no matter where they lived.
Source: Written Ministerial Statement 13 December 2010, columns 70-71WS, House of Commons Hansard/TSO
Links: Hansard | ASCL press release | NASUWT press release | NUT press release | BBC report | Children & Young People Now report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2010-Dec
A paper examined trends in public sector education expenditure in the United Kingdom. Spending on education had reached new record levels in real terms in each year since 1996-97. But between 2010-11 and 2014-15 budgets for the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills were planned to fall by 5.2 per cent (£4.1 billion) in cash terms and by 14 per cent in real terms.
Source: Paul Bolton, Education Spending in the UK, Standard Note SN/SG/1078, House of Commons Library
Links: Briefing paper
Date: 2010-Nov
The coalition government announced (in its 2010 Spending Review) that spending on schools in England would increase by 0.1 per cent each year in real terms over the period to 2014-15. But £2.5 billion would be diverted to a 'pupil premium' targeted at disadvantaged pupils; capital spending would by cut by 60 per cent; grants to higher education would be cut by 40 per cent; and the educational maintenance allowance would be scrapped in favour of 'targeted support'.
Source: Spending Review 2010, Cm 7942, HM Treasury/TSO
Links: Report | Summary | Hansard | HMT press releases | DE press release | DBIS press release | ALP press release | AOC press release | ASCL press release | ATL press release | Deloitte press release | Guild HE press release | Million+ press release | NAHT press release | NASUWT press release | NIACE press release | NUS press release | NUT press release | PwC press release | TSN press release | UCU press release | UUK press release | Times Higher Education report | Guardian report | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2) | Children & Young People Now report | Community Care report
Date: 2010-Oct
An audit report in Wales said that there had been improvements to the schools estate: but that the quality of planning and the capacity to deliver school capital investment programmes effectively had been inadequate in some local authorities.
Source: Capital Investment in Schools, Wales Audit Office
Links: Report | WAO press release | BBC report
Date: 2010-Jul
The new coalition government announced that it was scrapping hundreds of projects to rebuild or refurbish school premises in England under the previous Labour government's 'Building Schools for the Future' programme.
Source: Debate 5 July 2010, columns 47-73, House of Commons Hansard/TSO
Links: Hansard | NUT press release | NASUWT press release | ATL press release | NAHT press release | ADCS press release | RIBA press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Jul
The government began consultation on proposed arrangements for the operation of the 'pupil premium', under which additional funding for more disadvantaged pupils would aim to ensure that they benefited from the same opportunities as pupils from richer families.
Source: Consultation on School Funding 2011-12: Introducing a Pupil Premium, Department for Education
Links: Consultation document | DE press release | ASCL press release | NAHT press release | NUT press release | Liberal Democrats press release
Date: 2010-Jul
A paper said that educational expenditure had increased enormously under the Labour government – but that it was still only just above the average for industrialized countries. There was 'robust evidence' that the increase in school expenditure between 2002 and 2007 had led to a modest increase in educational attainment.
Source: Sandra McNally, Evaluating Education Policies: The evidence from economic research, Centre for Economic Performance/London School of Economics
Links: Paper
Date: 2010-Apr
The government announced details of funding increases for schools in England in the period 2010-2013. It said that there would be an average annual increase of 2.1 per cent in cash terms per pupil.
Source: Investing for the Future, Protecting the Front Line: School funding 2010-13, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Report | Hansard | DCSF press release | BBC report
Date: 2010-Mar
The government began consultation on proposals to make schools funding in England fairer. The consultation document included options on how to calculate the basic per pupil funding for each school; funding for additional education needs (including the local pupil premium); funding for high-cost pupils (such as those with high-cost special educational needs); the additional costs of providing schools in rural areas; and how to calculate the impact of staffing costs in different parts of the country.
Source: Consultation on the Future Distribution of School Funding, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Consultation document | Hansard | DCSF press release | ATL press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Mar
