In light of the issues which have been raised recently around pressure on school places and the Government’s plans to deny free school meals to some children in poverty, the news that schools are seriously struggling to meet basic financial needs comes as no surprise.

A new report by the Education Policy Institutefinds that by 2019-20, half of all state-funded schools won’t have the money to cope with even the below inflation 1% pay increase (in effect a real terms cut) for staff. While many schools do have reserves, this is not a permanent solution and schools urgently need proper funding.

The report finds that the Government’s National Funding Formula fails to deal with even this pressure, without accounting for other increased costs.

Without adequate funding, and with two thirds of education spending going on staff, it is inevitable that more teachers will be lost to try and meet budget constraints, meaning even bigger classes and a worse education for our children.

Labour will reverse the Tories’ spending cuts and pay for it by stopping wasting money on inefficient free schools and the Conservatives’ grammar schools vanity project.