{"id":162404,"date":"2024-10-27T08:51:11","date_gmt":"2024-10-27T08:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/27\/reeves-pledges-1-4bn-for-crumbling-classrooms\/"},"modified":"2024-10-27T08:51:11","modified_gmt":"2024-10-27T08:51:11","slug":"reeves-pledges-1-4bn-for-crumbling-classrooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/27\/reeves-pledges-1-4bn-for-crumbling-classrooms\/","title":{"rendered":"Reeves pledges \u00a31.4bn for ‘crumbling’ classrooms"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Reeves<\/div>


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The government has pledged \u00a31.4bn to meet a target of rebuilding 50 schools in England a year, so that children do not have to learn in “crumbling” classrooms.<\/p>\n

Chancellor Rachel Reeves made the spending commitment ahead of the autumn Budget next week, following warnings the School Rebuilding Programme is delayed. Head teachers’ unions have said more is needed for school buildings.<\/p>\n

Reeves also announced funding for the expansion of free childcare hours<\/a> and of breakfast clubs in primary schools<\/a>, and promised to “protect” education in Wednesday’s Budget.<\/p>\n

Labour has warned of “difficult decisions” on the public finances, with government sources telling the BBC it could announce tax rises and spending cuts worth \u00a340bn.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The funding pledge comes after the BBC revealed that 23 out of more than 500 schools<\/a> on the School Rebuilding Programme had been completed so far, while the Department for Education (DfE) has been missing its targets for hiring builders.<\/p>\n

The Treasury said the funding for the next financial year was a \u00a3550m increase on spending this year, which would “ramp up” progress towards 50 rebuilds per year.<\/p>\n

It said overall spending on school and college buildings would be set out in the full Budget announcement.<\/p>\n

Reeves also said the government would spend \u00a31.8bn on the expansion of government-funded childcare in the next financial year, with further details on childcare spending also expected to be set out on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The plan to increase that funding between this financial year and the next was set out in the 2023 spring Budget<\/a> under the previous Conservative government.<\/p>\n

The Treasury said it would triple spending on its rollout of free breakfast clubs for primary pupils in England, from around \u00a311m this year to around \u00a333m in 2025.<\/p>\n

The government has also announced \u00a344m to support foster carers and kinship, which is a child being raised in the care of a friend or family member who is not their parent.<\/p>\n

Reeves said “protecting funding for education” was among her priorities, and that children “should not suffer” for the “mess” inherited by Labour.<\/p>\n

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said she would “never accept that any child should learn in a crumbling classroom”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"BBC\/BBC\/ Gemma Laister<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The BBC has been looking into why targets for the government’s School Rebuilding Programme have been missed.<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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The BBC understands the Budget may also include:<\/a> <\/p>\n