Spending on early years and higher education has been ‘seriously eroded’ by higher-than-expected inflation, financial experts have warned.
In the 2022 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor provided an additional £2.3bn in funding to schools in England, which takes school spending per pupil in 2024 back to its most recent high point in 2010.
However, according to a new report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, there was no extra funding for early years, colleges, sixth forms and universities in the Autumn Statement.
Early years providers are facing big cost rises, IFS warned. Despite a planned £170m boost to funding by 2024, rising costs mean that total spending on the free entitlement will buy 9% less in 2024 compared with 2021.
Further education colleges and sixth forms are also facing large cuts. Additional funding in the 2019 and 2021 spending reviews will allow spending per student to rise by 9% between 2021 and 2024. But college spending per pupil in 2024 will still be around 5% below 2010 levels, while school sixth-form spending per sixth-form pupil will be 22% below them.
Total spending on adult skills and apprenticeships is set to increase by 22% between 2019 and 2024 as a result of £900m in extra funding announced in the 2021 Spending Review. However, this only reverses a fraction of past cuts: total adult skills spending will still be 22% below 2009 levels. Spending on classroom-based adult education has fallen especially sharply and will still be 40% below 2009 levels even with the additional funding.
Luke Sibieta, IFS research fellow, said: ‘Following a period of cuts to most areas of education spending, since 2019 the government has provided a boost to education funding. In the case of schools, this will take spending in 2024 back to its high point in 2010, though no growth in spending per pupil over a 14-year period is still a significant squeeze in historical terms.
‘Colleges and sixth forms are in a much worse position. They saw bigger cuts in the last decade, which are only being partially reversed. Unlike schools, they received no additional funding in the Autumn Statement for higher-than-expected costs and will need to accommodate an extra 200,000 students by 2030. Likewise, higher-than-expected inflation has seriously eroded the value of spending on the early years and higher education.’
Responding to the report, Cllr Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Children and Young People Board, said: ‘Effective, high quality early years provision makes a significant difference to young children, helping to break the cycle of disadvantage and improving social mobility while also enabling parents to work.
‘As this report highlights, while it is good that investment into early years has increased, this has not been enough to make up for rising costs, the majority of which have yet to be felt.
‘Inflationary pressures in early years settings is giving councils cause for concern, which is reflected in this report. It is vital that government fully funds early years entitlements, ensuring providers get the support they need while enabling all children to have access to nursery places, alongside a well-resourced workforce.’
