Richard Benyon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Benyon on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on school budgets of the National Living Wage.

Mr Sam Gyimah

We want to reward people in work, so we are introducing a national living wage in April 2016 which raises the current minimum rate by 50p per hour. Over a million workers will benefit directly from the increase, many by up to £900 a year.

Some of those workers are employed in our schools. We will be expecting schools, like all employers, to manage the change within their budgets. To help them do that, we have protected the core schools budget, including the pupil premium, and we have ensured that the extra £390 million allocated in 2015-16 remains in the baseline for future years. Throughout this Parliament we will increase the amount of money for our schools as pupil numbers rise, protecting the total budget in real terms.

We have committed to target this funding more fairly by introducing a national funding formula. With a fair formula we will be able to fund schools based on their individual needs, so that they can manage cost pressures effectively and make informed decisions about what is best for them and their pupils in the long term. This fairer system will mean schools can keep driving up educational standards while managing their budgets.