Created on: 31 Oct 2024
The EIS has welcomed the announcement of an additional £3.4 Billion in funding for public services in Scotland, as a consequence of today’s budget statement by Chancellor or the Exchequer Rachel Reeves.
In her budget statement, the UK Chancellor announced additional funding for schools, extra teachers, school buildings, free school meals and the college sector in England. The EIS has noted the UK government’s decision to prioritise education, and calls upon the Scottish Government to take a similar stance.
Barnett consequential funding to Scotland from today’s budget will be an additional £3.4Bn, providing a real-terms increase in funding to the Scottish Government next year.
The Scottish Government's forthcoming Scottish Budget must include a meaningful ringfenced increase in education funding to councils to deliver additional resources to schools that address urgent challenges in respect of pupil behaviours, inadequate additional support needs (ASN) provision and excessive teacher workload.
Commenting, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said, "Today’s budget statement by the UK Chancellor has highlighted the importance of investing in education, to give all young people the best start in life.
"The substantial additional investment announced for public services south of the border, including a major commitment to education, will result in a major cash boost of around £3.4 Billion to the Scottish budget.
"It is now vital that the Scottish Government grasps this opportunity to invest the additional funding in education and in our wider public services, for the benefit of all citizens of Scotland present and future. By investing this additional money, and by utilising their own financial levers including tax-raising powers, the Scottish Government can sustainably deliver a high quality education system that is rooted in social justice principles."
Ms Bradley continued, “Scottish education faces significant challenges at present, many of them related to insufficient investment in the system over many years. We need more teachers in our schools to ensure a better learning experience for all young people, and to guarantee that Scottish Government manifesto commitments on additional teachers and reductions in teachers’ class contact commitments and levels of workload, will be delivered.
"We currently have thousands of qualified teachers seeking jobs, and many thousands more facing precarity of employment on short-term, temporary contracts. This additional cash injection must be used to create more, permanent, teaching jobs to deliver a better learning experience in our schools.
"The school estate is also in need of substantial investment, with too many pupils and teachers working in old, poorly maintained buildings, which do not provide a safe and sound working environment for students and staff. The additional funding, announced today, can start to address these issues for the benefit of all involved in Scottish education."
Ms Bradley added, "It is now incumbent on the Scottish Government to act to ensure that the Barnett consequential funding, arising from today’s budget announcements on education, is utilised fully to support high quality learning and teaching and the delivery of a Scottish education system that will meet the needs of Scotland’s young people, and Scottish society, both now and in the future."