Spring budget "missed opportunity" on school energy bills

Confederation of School Trusts Chief Executive Leora Cruddas CBE said:

"Schools continue to face rapidly rising costs. The Chancellor has today extended support for energy costs at home but in two weeks will cut support for school's energy bills, making it even harder for school trusts to balance the books. This is a missed opportunity to support public sector services to manage energy-related cost pressures."

"We are pleased to note the announcement about wraparound childcare, which may have a positive impact on the education workforce.”

Notes to editors

• The current Energy Bills Relief Scheme for non-domestic customers runs until March 2023 when it is due to be replaced by the Energy Bills Discount Scheme. This offers less than a third of the support of the previous scheme. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-unveils-new-energy-bills-discount-scheme-for-businesses
• The government will provide £289 million in start-up funding to enable schools and local authorities to test options to increase the availability of wraparound childcare in the longer term, with national roll out over academic years 2024-25 and 2025-26. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2023/spring-budget-2023-html

Photo: UK Treasury