The UK Government has confirmed that billions of pounds will be used to protect education priorities, as chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares for this week’s budget.
According to the Department for Education, £1.4bn will be allocated towards the existing School Rebuilding Programme, with 50 rebuilds a year promised.
The expansion of government-supported childcare will also benefit from £1.8bn of investment, with a further £15m of capital funding allocated to expand school-based nurseries.
Primary schools are eligible for up to £150k of the £15m with the first phase of the plan set to support as many as 300 new or expanded nurseries across England.
Breakfast clubs, meanwhile, will benefit from a tripling in investment as the government readies £30m to help parents from disadvantaged backgrounds and improve behaviour, attendance, and attainment.
In a bid to also help children settle inro stable homes, the government has announced £44m to support kinship and foster carers.
Part of this will include a trial for a new kinship allowance at up to 10 local authorities to evaluate whether paying an allowance to cover costs will increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends.
The funding is further expected to ensure each local authority has access to a regional recruitment hub for fostering – this is expected to lead to hundreds of extra foster placements, in turn reducing the amount spent by local government on residential care.
The government has also confirmed that more reforms to child social care will take place in future spending reviews.
“We are determined to break down those barriers to opportunity, whether it’s brilliant early years, free breakfast clubs or high and rising standards in our schools, this government is putting education back at the forefront of national life,” said education secretary, Bridget Phillipson.
Chancellor Reeves added: “Protecting funding for education was one of the things I wanted to do first because our children are the future of this country. We might have inherited a mess, but they should not suffer for it.”
Image credit: iStock
