Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, commenting on the Government’s National Funding Formula announcement, said:

“Today’s announcement on the National Funding Formula follows years of pressure from the Labour Party as well as schools, teachers and parents across the country, forcing the Government to abandon millions of pounds in outright cuts to schools.

“However, it does not go nearly far enough to meet the Tories’ own election promises and is far less than Labour pledged in our manifesto. For many pupils and schools, funding will fall in real terms between now and 2020, which comes on top of a £2.7 billion in real term cuts since 2015.

“There is no new money for education at all, and this funding for schools is coming from other cuts to education budgets. Only months ago, Ministers guaranteed that the healthy pupils fund would be protected – now it is being cut by over 75 per cent, and the Education Secretary can’t even tell us where else the axe will fall.

“The next Labour government will give our schools the resources they need, reversing funding cuts and increasing the schools budget in real terms, as we build a National Education service that allows every child to fulfil their potential.”