Chancellor: no new money for schools after £20 billion NHS pledge
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has told cabinet colleagues that finding an extra £20bn for the NHS – the so-called ‘Brexit dividend’ – means there will be no new money for schools, according to The Times.
The Prime Minster confirmed last weekend that NHS England would benefit from an annual 3.4 per cent rise up to 2024, equivalent to an extra £394 million per week in real terms.
Schools are facing a real-terms 4.6 per cent cut between 2015 and 2019, although spending is being maintained between 2017 and 2019.
The Chancellor’s alleged comments contrast with the Prime Minister’s previous statements that schools should receive extra funding when Britain leaves the EU. Speaking to the BBC in late March she said “Of course when we leave the European Union, we’ll no longer be spending vast sums of money, year in and year out, sending that money to the European Union, so there will be money available here in the UK to spend on our priorities like the NHS and schools.”
It has always been unclear, however, where this funding will be drawn from as the Government has already earmarked the UK’s entire net contribution to the EU budget for costs associated with leaving the EU and commitments to replace EU funding after Brexit.