To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2019 to Question 235, on Sex and Relationship Education: Finance, how much funding he plans to allocate to a programme of support for schools to teach (a) relationships education in primary schools, (b) relationships and sex education in secondary schools, and (c) health education in state-funded schools in 2020-21.
Answered on
31 October 2019
The Department is committed to investing in a programme of support for schools to deliver high quality teaching of Relationship and Health Education in primary schools and Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education in secondary schools. The Department’s internal budgets for 2020-21, including supporting the implementation of the new subjects, have not yet been set and this will be confirmed later in the autumn.
Further to the programme of support for the new subjects, schools are free to choose how they spend their funding to support their pupils. Overall, school funding is increasing by 5% in 2020-21. The Department is committed to ensuring that per-pupil funding for every school can rise at least in line with inflation next year and faster than inflation for most.
This is part of the Government’s investment of a total of £14 billion additional funding for schools over the next three years – the largest cash boost in over a decade – which will allow for a cash increase of £2.6 billion next year, with increases of £4.8 billion and £7.1 billion in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively, compared to 2019-20.
The Department is committed to delivering the greatest gains to areas which have been historically underfunded, removing the previous cap on gains so that funding flows through in full. At the same time, we are levelling up the lowest funded schools to ensure they have the right investment to deliver an outstanding education. Every secondary school will receive at least £5,000 per pupil, and every primary school at least £3,750 next year – putting primary schools on the path to receiving at least £4,000 per pupil the following year.
The Department trusts schools and head teachers to spend their budgets in a way that achieves the best outcomes for their pupils, including how best to support the teaching of the curriculum.