Surrey’s schools are set to be hit with a £24.8m cut to spending power in 2024/25

Schools in Surrey are set to be hit with a £24.8 cut to spending power in 2024/25 data from the National Education Union (NEU) reveals.

It means that funding per pupil in Surrey will be cut by £167 in 2024/25 compared with 2023/24. 

There are 355 schools in Surrey. 332 of which will have less spending power in 2024/25 as a result of these funding cuts.

For Primary schools in Surrey, there will be a £155 reduction in spending power per pupil over the next financial year, and in Secondary schools there will be a £207 fall in spending power per pupil.

Spelthorne’s Liberal Democrats have warned that the fall in spending power will push already stretched school budgets to the brink, with a worse educational experience for pupils and worse outcomes.

It comes as new data released today shows that this Conservative Government has cut the annual growth in funding in cash terms from 8% in 2023/4 to 3.1% in 2024/5. 

The Lib Dems are calling for the Government to review school funding after the IFS has concluded that the purchasing power of school budgets in 2024 will still be about 4% lower than in 2010.

Harry Boparai, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Spelthorne, who attended a local comprehensive school himself says, "Rishi Sunak, Kwasi Kwarteng and their chums attended public schools with budgets far beyond the wildest dreams of most comprehensive schools, which struggle to provide even the basics in crumbling classrooms and now the Conservatives want to cut funding even more. The Liberal Democrats believe that all our children deserve a well funded education system, not just those of the rich. We are committed to providing the best possible education for all our children. They are our greatest resource. Investment in education is expensive, but it is cheaper in the long run than the alternative."