£90 million Pupil Premium cut is "shameful penny pinching" say Lib Dems

"Liberal Democrats warned the government months ago that the most disadvantaged children would lose out on support because of the Government’s shameful penny pinching."


Responding to the news that the Government has planned to cut Pupil Premium funding by some £90million, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education Daisy Cooper MP said:

"Liberal Democrats warned the government months ago that the most disadvantaged children would lose out on support because of the Government’s shameful penny pinching.

“We wrote to the Education Secretary months ago urging him not to go ahead with this cut and teachers warned of the impact this would have for disadvantaged pupils - but the Government simply refused to listen. The Tories talk about the importance of levelling up in our education system, but the reality is they have cut vital funding which gives support to the poorest pupils.

"This will have a devastating impact for pupils who are recovering from months of disruption to their schooling, and comes on top of the paltry education recovery package the Government have offered.

"The Government must reverse this disgraceful, short-sighted move and backdate payments to schools for the money they have missed out on.”

Notes to editor

Government Guidance has been published on the GOV.UK website: Allocation changes from the 2021 to 2022 financial year