Stowmarket High School head Dave Lee-Allan says school funding challenges 'will result in deficit budget this year'

An education leader has said the £2.3 billion extra for schools announced by the government is a ‘drop in the ocean’ as he revealed his school would have a deficit budget this year.

Dave Lee-Allan, headteacher of Stowmarket High School and chair of the Suffolk Association of Secondary Headteachers, spoke of the funding struggles facing schools as they try to manage ‘unfunded’ staff pay awards and rising costs - against a backdrop of years of austerity funding.

He said funding challenges would result in a deficit budget this year for his school and wider provision would have to be reviewed on a case by case basis. However, redundancies at Stowmarket High are not currently being considered.

He said the reasons for this year’s deficit include that the school is growing, in terms of pupil numbers, and therefore there are extra costs like more staff and resources.

Another local school, Freeman Community Primary School in Stowupland, recently told parents and carers that it had moved from a balanced budget to a deficit budget for 2022/23.

While Mr Lee-Allan welcomed the ‘surprise’ announcement in the Autumn Statement of an extra £2.3 billion per year for schools for 2023-24 and 2024-25, he didn’t see it as something to applaud ‘when you see per pupil funding going back to 2010 levels’.

“The picture nationally has been improved somewhat by the statement with the £2.3 billion for education and that is obviously welcomed,” he said.

“However, it is a bit of a drop in the ocean and firstly that money will be for next year so this year all schools will still have to absorb the unfunded pay rises for teachers and for support staff, plus obviously the rise in fuel and every other service and material that we use.”

He said while the extra funding ‘will help’ with next year’s budget at his school, ‘it’s not enough to solve the shortfall’.

Freeman’s headteacher Daniel Pettitt said in the email to parents/carers that despite additional government funding by 2024/25, ‘schools are still operating with funding levels that mean we have to consider wider provision, such as music and wellbeing programmes, moving forwards’.

He encouraged parents and carers, if possible, to contact their local MP to ensure schools are appropriately funded in the future to deliver the 'best education possible for your children'.

Stowmarket MP Jo Churchill said: "I too am concerned about school funding and the increasing pressure on budgets, service delivery and the day-to-day impact on students.

"I have spoken to several school leaders and the Regional Schools Commissioner about schools funding, both in the current climate and for the future. In addition I have raised the current concerns with the Schools Minister.

"The Prime Minister has announced a six-month support scheme, including a new energy price guarantee for educational settings. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will shortly be confirming the structure of this support.

"For seven years, I have fought for fairer funding for the students educated in Suffolk schools to address the historic inequality. There has been some recognition of this and a narrowing of the gap but we do need to see further improvements.

"In the Autumn Statement the Chancellor confirmed that schools will receive £2.3 billion of additional funding during both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years. This will bring the core schools budget to a total of £58.8 billion in 2024-25.

"I will continue to press ministers, including the Minister for Education, to promote the needs of our young people to ensure they are able to get the best from their time in education."

The Treasury said the Autumn Statement announces a real-terms increase in per pupil funding from that committed at Spending Review 2021.