Rishi Sunak risks lost generation by shortchanging schools – The Yorkshire Post says

Rishi Sunak visiting a sweet stall at Bury Market on the morning after his Budget.Rishi Sunak visiting a sweet stall at Bury Market on the morning after his Budget.
Rishi Sunak visiting a sweet stall at Bury Market on the morning after his Budget.
RISHI Sunak’s sheepishness over education in the Budget is another ominous warning that the Chancellor – and the Government - is neither serious, nor sincere, over levelling up.

The Richmond MP’s spending bonanza, worth an estimated £150bn, including a further £3bn to help pupils catch up on lost learning and an extra £4.7bn for schools by 2024-25.

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Yet these sums – a fraction of the request made by Sir Kevan Collins when education recovery commissioner – today look even more inconsequential.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak's record on education spending is coming under fire.Chancellor Rishi Sunak's record on education spending is coming under fire.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak's record on education spending is coming under fire.
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For, while Mr Sunak said every pupil was receiving a cash increase of £1,500, education spending will – by the end of this Parliament – only be marginally better off than in 2010 when the Tories came to power.

This before schools see their energy bills, and other costs, soar as the Treasury maintains its grip on local government spending.

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Boris JNohnson and Rishi Sunak undertook a brewery visit after the Budget.Boris JNohnson and Rishi Sunak undertook a brewery visit after the Budget.
Boris JNohnson and Rishi Sunak undertook a brewery visit after the Budget.

As Paul Johnson, director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, said: “A decade and a half with no growth in spending despite, albeit insipid, economic growth is unprecedented.”

No wonder a senior former Cabinet minister indicated to The Yorkshire Post that they fear there will be no money left for levelling up when schools and skills is so fundamental to its success.

Yet, while Mr Sunak is pleased that his Budget has been compared favourably to New Labour, his record on schools is at odds with Tony Blair’s ‘education, education, education’ zeal.

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Today’s pupils and students are tomorrow’s entrepreneurs and wealth-creators. Investing in them now, so they don’t become a lost generation after Covid, is a downpayment on Britain’s future.

It is also levelling up in action. As such, the mystery is why the Chancellor still fails to grasp this when he says that he was motivated to enter politics to improve education.

Either the money has run out – or the Government does not truly realise the importance of social mobility. Which is it, Mr Sunak?

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