99% of children are receiving no Government aided catch-up tutoring across the country. This is the equivalent of 21,670 children missing out in Redcar and Cleveland according to new analysis from Labour.

The new analysis comes following the resignation of the Conservative’s Education Recovery Commissioner, Kevan Collins, in protest at the Government’s plan to offer just a tenth of the support he recommended. In a resignation letter, he wrote that it is not “credible that a successful recovery can be achieved with a programme of support of this size”.

Labour’s Children’s Recovery Plan however, proposes a programme for all children to ‘play, learn and develop’ as the post-covid catch up continues. Labour’s £15bn plan – in line with Kevan Collins’ recommendations – would deliver:

•             Small group tutoring for all who need it, not just 1%

•             Breakfast clubs and new activities for every child

•             Quality mental health support in every school

•             Continued development for teachers

•             An Education Recovery Premium

•             Ensure no child goes hungry

Redcar and Cleveland Labour Leader, Carl Quartermain said,

“The government have let our children down yet again and particularly the most disadvantaged. They have been given the correct advice from their own Education Recovery Commissioner but have chosen to ignore it. This completely misses the point when they talk about ‘Levelling Up’. You cannot level up simply by funding infrastructure projects. The government’s reduced programme means 99% of our children in Redcar and Cleveland, which equates to 21,670 pupils, will receive no catch-up tutoring whatsoever. Despite this, schools are doing what they can to offer summer schooling and extra classes with the meagre funding available but are expected to fund 25% of this themselves. This will inevitably mean schools won’t apply for the funding and will play out through lower grades, lower qualifications and poor prospects for many growing up here.”

“The effect of the restrictions on our children’s education has been very tough. They have had almost two years of their schooling disrupted by the pandemic which has meant many have fallen behind, are struggling to cope and find it overwhelming to catch up on the expected levels and continuous workload. We have a massive responsibility to help them because neglecting their education now will ultimately leave them vulnerable in an area already failing on all fronts for over a decade. Labour is proposing to leave no child behind with a programme more in line with the recommendations from the Government’s own advisers, rather than the paltry fund being allocated.”

“It is quite unacceptable to abandon our children like this. Residents and businesses are only too aware of the impacts poor education leads to in this deprived borough. The North East have some of the worst figures in the country in relation to crime, anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol dependency, domestic abuse, unemployment, income poverty, obesity, mental health, suicide and a shorter life expectancy. Many of these issues take root from an early age with the disengagement of education and the lack of funding to resource it. This is what 11 years of Tory government, eroding the necessary support services, looks like and can only get worse.”

Kate Green, the Shadow Education Secretary said Labour’s £15bn plan – in line with Kevan Collin’s own proposals and informed by the Bright Future Taskforce of education experts – delivers the bold action that teachers, parents, children, education experts and employers have said is needed.

This one-off investment is dwarfed by the estimated cost to the economy and the taxpayer of not supporting children’s recovery, which the Education Policy Institute has said could be up to £420bn – almost 30 times more than the cost of Labour’s package.

Kate Green MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, said

“Children are excited to be back in the classroom with their friends and hungry to learn. After such disruption, we owe it to them to match their energy and motivation, with the support and resources they need to thrive, not just whilst they catch-up, but for their school careers and beyond.

“Our plans deliver this, by funding activities to combine learning and play while investing in our teachers and staff, Labour will ensure that children not only recover, but are supported to push on. In contrast, the Conservatives are showing no ambition for children’s futures.

“Labour’s innovative plans, informed by parents, teachers and children, will deliver not just a world-class education for all based on play and social development, but fulfilled and confident young people.”

“We must match the ambition children have for their own futures and put them at the heart of our national recovery. This is an investment that our children’s futures and the future of our country depends on.”

References

Poorer white pupils let down and neglected – MPs – BBC News

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-57320450

Notes to editors

• Government funded tutoring is reaching just 1%: At an education select committee hearing on 29 April, Schools Minister Nick Gibb MP said: “the latest figures are that of those enrolled, over 110,000 have commenced tutoring and 44% of those are eligible for pupil premium funding.” 

This equates to just 1.24% of children receiving support under the Government’s tutoring scheme.

https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/2142/pdf/

Total children started to receive tutoring	Total school children	Percentage of children receiving tuition
110,000	8,890,000	1.24%

Source: total school children: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2020 

• This equates to just 272 children in Redcar and Cleveland receiving catch up tutoring, with 21,669 missing out

Total children in school in Redcar and Cleveland	Children receiving catch up tuition (based on 1.24% nationwide	Children not receiving catch-up tuition
21942	272	21669

• Despite Kevan Collins saying £15bn investment is needed to support children’s recovery, the Treasury is reportedly only willing to spend £1.5bn: https://www.tes.com/news/exclusive-extended-school-day-plan-hit-lack-cash

• The Oxford Covid-19 Government Response Tracker shows children in the UK have spent more time out of school or university than anywhere else in Europe: https://covidtracker.bsg.ox.ac.uk/

• Labour’s plan will invest £14.7 billion in the education system over the next two years, as a one-off funding boost to ensure no child is held back by the pandemic – see table below.

• In contrast, the Education Policy Institute has estimated the cost to the economy of not supporting children to recover lost learning could be between £62bn – £420bn.

The IFS has estimated this would be between £90bn and £350bn.

EPI: https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/EPI-Education-Recovery-Preliminary-Analysis-2021.pdf 
IFS: https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/15292

• Labour’s Bright Future Taskforce was established in March to develop a national strategy to ensure all children recover the learning and social development lost during the pandemic and have the chance to reach their full potential: https://labour.org.uk/bright-future-taskforce-2/

• The Government is reported to be planning a longer school day: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/school-day-to-be-extended-under-15bn-covid-rescue-plan-to-help-children-catch-up-bnsb5d6ll

• This is unpopular amongst parents and education experts who have warned there is limited benefit from a short extension to lessons:

Longer school hours won’t plug Covid learning gaps, says Cambridge academichttps://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/may/28/longer-school-hours-plug-covid-learning-gaps-cambridge-academic

Parents oppose longer school days to help children catch up: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/parents-oppose-longer-school-days-to-help-children-catch-up-5bv9k502m

• Parents have reported their children’s wellbeing and social development to be their top concern post-pandemic:

56% of parents in an IpsosMori poll named increased wellbeing as their top priority to help children catch-up:https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/three-ten-home-schooling-parents-say-it-did-not-go-well

89% of mums felt lockdown took a big toll on the mental health of children and young people, and 77% of mums are more worried about children missing out on social skills as result of lockdown: https://britainthinks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/BT-and-MN_Mums-and-lockdown_webinar-deck_11.03.21_For-publication.pdf

• Pupils have missed an average of 95 in-person school days:

Total in-person days missed	Total school children	Average per child
850,000,000	8,890,000	95

Source: 850 million days: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/2021/02/17/building-back-better-reaching-englands-left-behind-children/

Source total school children: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2020 

• Pupils on free school meals are on average 18 months of learning behind their peers at GCSE, a gap which had not narrowed in five years even before the pandemic: https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/EPI_2020_Annual_Report_.pdf

• School spending per pupil in England fell by 9% in real terms between 2009–10 and 2019–20. This represents the largest cut in over 40 years. https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/15025

• 4.3 million children were in living in poverty in March 2020 according to the Government’s latest figures, an increase of nearly 700,000 since 2010. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2020/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-fye-2015-to-fye-2020

• The average secondary school class size has risen to its highest level since 2001 under the Conservative’s, with the average class now at 22 pupils:  https://www.tes.com/news/secondary-school-class-sizes-biggest-19-years#:~:text=Average%20secondary%20school%20class%20sizes,2019%20to%2022%20in%202020

Summary of policy costs

Unless specified otherwise, all costs are revenue spending in both of the next two years. All figures are presented to the nearest million. For policies where there is a different cost in each of the next two years (teacher development fund, and both spending lines on alternative provision) the average cost is given.

Area of spending	Cost
Extended schools, extracurricular activities	£4.536 billion
Mental health support	£317 million
Education Recovery Premium ·       School pupils in receipt of Pupil Premium ·       Children with child protection plans ·       Early Years Recovery Premium  ·       Further Education Recovery Premium	£622 million, of which: ·       £240 million   ·       £130 million   ·       £110 million ·       £142 million
One off payment to replace pupil premium funding schools have lost	£133 million
Extend the National Tutoring programme, reaching equivalent of all pupils eligible for free school meals	£572 million
Extend existing tutoring support in further education	£100 million
Teacher development fund	£300 million
Training for teaching assistants to deliver tutoring	£72 million
Fund pupils in further education to resit a year	£330 million
Extend alternative provision to post-16	£90 million
Increase spending on alternative provision by £3,000 per pupil	£100 million
Double the Pupil Premium for those in transition years (one-off single year cost)	£500 million

The total cost of the package would be £14.7bn across the next two years. In the first year, the cost is £7.7 billion because of the one-off doubling of the Pupil Premium for those in transition years and the one-off payment to replace lost pupil premium funding.