Labour will transform education for the many not the few
Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, will today outline
Labour’s transformational plan to invest in a National Education Service to
ensure no one is held back and create a more skilled workforce and productive
economy.
Labour’s plan to increase schools funding and introduce free,
lifelong education in colleges is at the heart of its commitment to create a
society run for the many not the few.
Jeremy will be joined by Angela Rayner, Shadow Education
Secretary, and Rebecca Long-Bailey, Shadow Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy Secretary, at a college in Leeds on Wednesday to announce the details
of the plan.
Labour’s key pledges are:
- Stop the cuts to school budgets with a real terms increase in funding
- Reduce class sizes to under 30 for all five, six and seven year olds
- Free school meals for all primary school children
- Restore education maintenance allowance for college students
- Restore student grants for university students
- Scrap fees on courses for adult learners looking to re-train or upskill
The plans will be funded from the £19.4 billion that will be
raised by reversing the Conservative Party’s cuts to corporation tax. Labour
has previously announced extending free school meals to all primary age
children will be funded by levying VAT on private school fees.
Jeremy Corbyn said:
“People of all ages are being held back by a lack of funding for education,
and this in turn is holding back the economy by depriving industry of the
untapped talent of thousands of people.
“The Conservatives have spent seven years starving schools of
funding, meaning headteachers are having to send begging letters to parents to
ask for money. They have also cut support for students and forced colleges to
increase fees. It’s created a downward spiral that is bad for the people being
held back and bad for the economy.
“Labour will do things differently. Our new National Education
Service will transform our schools and education system to ensure a future for
the many not the few. We will reverse the Conservatives’ tax giveaways to big
business and put money back where it belongs, in our schools, our colleges and
our communities.”
Angela Rayner said:
“Our plans for a new National Education Service show there is a
clear choice at this election. Between the Tories who have broken their
promises to parents and children, or a Labour party with a real plan for
education for the many not the few.
“We will invest in schools and in our young people, ensuring no
primary pupils go hungry during the day, reducing class sizes so children can
learn and teachers can teach, and restoring the maintenance allowance and
grants for students in both further and higher education.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
- Stop the cuts to school budgets with a real terms increase in funding
- Labour will ensure all schools have the funding they need, including £4.8 billion per year for English schools by 2021-22, as part of £5.66 billion additional annual funding across the UK by the end of the parliament.
- We estimate that preventing any losses under the proposed national funding formula in every year after the first will cost around £335 million.
- Reduce class sizes to under 30 for all five, six and seven year olds
- £8.4 billion capital investment to ensure schools have the number of places they need and £13.8 billion to ensure that school buildings are up to standard.
- Free school meals for all primary school children
- House of Commons Library research says extending free school meals for all primary children would cost £700-£900 million, paid for by VAT on private schools.
- Restore education maintenance allowance for college students
- Assuming the same proportion of 16-18 year olds qualify for EMA as previously the cost would be £582 million a year.
- Restore student grants for university students
- Total spend on maintenance grants in 2015/16 was £1.57 billion. If this is uprated in line with CPI inflation then the cost next year is £1.63 billion, rising to £1.73 billion by the end of the parliament.
- Scrap fees on courses for adult learners looking to re-train or upskill
- Increase the adult skills budget by £1.5 billion by the end of the parliament in order to abolish upfront fees and increase course funding by an average of 10 per cent year on year.
Corporation tax
- From next tax year, the headline rate of corporation tax will rise from its current 19 per cent to 21 per cent in 2018-19, 24 per cent in 2019-20 and 26 per cent in 2020-21. This will still leave it at the lowest rate in the G7. The small profits rate, payable by firms with profits below £300,000, will rise less sharply to 20 per cent in 2018-19 and 21 per cent in 2020-21
- According to Treasury and Office for Budget Responsibility figures, the Tories’ tax giveaways are costing the exchequer £65.2 billion over the four years from 2018-19 to 2021-22, including £19.4 billion in the last year of the parliament. This contrasts with £46.8 billion based on the forecasts when the cuts were introduced.