Hello.
My name’s Gavin Williamson.
I'm the Secretary of State for Education.
This is my first Facebook Live and the department’s first Facebook Live as well.
We'd asked a lot of you to contribute questions.
I will do my very best to answer as many as we can.
Just last week, with the Prime Minister, I was very privileged to be able to announce
that we are investing an extra £18.9 billion into our education system over a three-year
period.
£4.5 billion of that is to make sure that we cover the cost of extra pensions.
But the rest of it is all aimed at delivering better education for all children in this
country.
So, if I dive into the questions…
The first one is from Jamie, who asks the question of, how will you ensure that teacher
pay is fully supported to match the recommendations by the Independent Pay Review Body?
Most schools spend about 50% of their budget directly on teacher pay.
That’s why it was so important, from my point of view, to ensure that we're able to
secure the maximum amount of money for all schools so that they were able to deliver
a pay award for teachers.
All evidence points to the simple fact that the biggest impact that we can have on children’s
education is the teacher in that classroom.
So, getting the very best teachers, encouraging people to stay within the teaching profession,
and inspire a new generation of the most brilliant to come and work in the classroom is so very
important.
I’ll be writing to the Independent Pay Review Body to explain to them about our aims and
aspirations for teachers’ pay, and also explaining the fact that there is money to
support those increased levels of pay, bringing the starting salary of newly qualified teachers
up to £30,000, which I think sends an important message about how we value the teaching profession.
The next question we have is from Sally, and the question is to whether the £700 million
funding for special educational needs will be ringfenced.
The £700 million is being given to schools, to Local Authorities, to directly help those
children who need it most.
I expect every Local Authority to pass forth that money straight through to schools.
It's vitally important that they do this.
These are some of the children with the highest needs.
It's something that, when I've been visiting schools, when I've been speaking to teaching
unions, that they’ve been highlighting as an absolute priority for them.
And I very much hope this £700 million will have an enormous impact on children’s lives,
but I do expect it to go through to all schools.
David raises the issue, saying that whilst the news that there will be a significant
funding increase is fantastic, the first instalment is still a year away.
Will there be further funding this academic year?
This spending review was all designed for the years 2020-2021.
We were the only department across government that was able to get a multi-year settlement
covering three years.
And this will be made available from April next year and cover the full three-year period.
Joe raises as to where the extra money is coming from.
Quite simply, the extra money is coming from The Treasury.
The Chancellor agreed this extra funding, it's not being taken from our budget.
It's coming directly from Her Majesty’s Treasury and will have an immediate impact.
Jane raises the issue of, how will the additional funding be distributed to schools?
Will all schools receive additional funding?
Every single school in this country will be receiving an increase in the money it gets
in line with inflation.
Those schools that have historically been funded at a lower level will be seeing the
amount of money the receive per pupil lifted up.
So, the next financial year will ensure that every secondary school will get a minimum
of £5,000 a year per-pupil funding, and every primary school will be getting a minimum of
£3,750 per-pupil funding, and that will be increasing to £4,000 per pupil the following
year.
Helen raises the issue of, we rely on teachers from the European Union and teacher recruitment/retention
is at breaking point.
How do you plan to mitigate for Brexit?
In so many schools right across the country we see teachers from many different nations,
right across the European Union, who play an important role in delivering education
for children in this country.
And the government has continuously made it clear that they are.. their rights are going
to be protected.
We want them to stay in this country and we are going to be ensuring that it is absolutely
easy and simple for them to stay on in this country and continue to contribute to our
schools as they have been doing.
The issue of teacher retention and recruitment is incredibly important, and we've been working
with the trade unions, and right across the sector, to make sure that we have the proper
and right recruitment and retention strategy to ensure that teachers, both in primary and
secondary education have the incentive to stay on in this profession.
But we do want those from other European countries that have made Britain their home to feel
as if they want to continue to work in our schools.
Kathy raises the issue of, are we going to announce any funding for the early years sector?
The simple answer to that is yes.
We announced next year £66 million for the early years sector.
That was announced in the spending review just yesterday.
And finally, Daniel asks the question, will this funding be applied at the beginning of
the new financial years?
Funding mid-year makes forecasting difficult.
A lot of this depends on the type of school that you’re working in, Daniel.
If it is an academy, academies will receive the extra funding from September of next year.
If it's a Local Authority funded school, it will be from April of next year.
What is critical is that this funding is over a three-year period.
This gives the opportunity for head teachers to be able to plan and to properly be able
to forecast as to what they want to be doing in their schools.
And that’s why it's been so critical to be able to secure it over that three-year
period.
Finally, I'd just like to thank you for taking the time to watch, taking the time to listen,
but most importantly, taking the time to contribute your questions.
Thank you.