Cost pressures on schools have made it 'challenging' to manage budgets, Damian Hinds admits

Cost pressures have made it “challenging” for headteachers to manage their budgets in schools where more is demanded of schools than it was a generation ago, the education secretary has admitted.

Damian Hinds pledged to work with school leaders to “bear down” on cost pressures like rises in pension and national insurance contributions and to target resources at the front line.

It comes after the minister was forced into a U-turn this year after he wrongly claimed that school spending was going up.

Speaking at the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) annual conference in Liverpool, Mr Hinds said: “There have also been real cost pressures on schools, for example on pensions and national insurance. So yes, I know that it is challenging for schools, managing the budget.

“I do pledge to work with you to bear down on cost pressures as best we can, working closely with you to make sure that schools can get the best deals possible and target precious resources at the front line.”

He added: “It is true that schools get more funding than they used to. But it is also true that society asks more of schools than it did a generation ago.”

His comments were welcomed by the NAHT which said schools were facing “extra expectations” that come at “extra cost”, such as having to provide more mental health support for young children.

Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said: “Schools cannot solve these problems on their own. It's also important to acknowledge that these extra expectations come at an extra cost, and many of the sources of support that schools once relied on have been cut or now have to be bought in.

“Mental health services, speech and language therapy and some social care services are examples of how schools are filling the gap in new ways.”

At union conferences in past years, Tory education ministers have been heckled and jeered. But Mr Hinds was met with applause from delegates as he addressed funding concerns at the conference.

Mr Hinds also signalled a move away from forcing schools to become academies and he pledged to set up “more rigorous oversight and challenge” of the financial performance of academy chains.

Speaking to headteachers, he said: ”I want to move to a system where, when it comes to educational under-performance, we only enforce academy conversion, leadership change or changing the trust a school is part of when there has been an Ofsted inadequate judgment.

“So that means we will not be forcibly turning schools into academies unless there is that judgment.”

Mr Hinds added: “I want to move away from forced academisation being seen as this punitive threat that can also hang over schools that are not failing.”

The Department for Education (DfE) announced proposals today aimed at ending confusion over how schools are held to account. Under the plans, the system of using two standards - ‘coasting’ and the ‘floor standard’ - to judge school performance will be scrapped and replaced with a new single measure.

Mr Hinds also announced a £5m pilot of sabbaticals for teachers who have been in the profession for 10 years in a bid to improve teacher retention and recruitment following concerns in the sector.