Instead, the Chancellor announced a spending review that will be concluded before the Autumn Budget in November this year.

Hinds prior statement

At the Association of School and College Leaders’ annual conference, Hinds had said he heard “loud and clear” their concerns over funding and the need for an extra £5.7bn to avoid deeper spending cuts or even insolvency.

Hinds had pledged to the ASCL to “make the strongest possible case for education” to win more funding from the Treasury in the upcoming spending review. He said: “I get that finances are challenging for schools, and that many of you have had to make, and are having to make very hard choices.”

“I know that rising costs from suppliers to supply agencies add to these pressures, alongside the particular pressures in High Needs. On Wednesday the Chancellor announces the next spending review, which is when Government sets out spending allocations for the year ahead. I will take that opportunity to make the strongest possible case for education.

“It’s a moral argument about our priorities. But also - from a hard-headed point of view - a strong, highly skilled, productive economy needs the right level of investment in our schools. And the revolution we need in technical education needs investment in our colleges.”

ASCL demands £5.7bn investment

ASCL President Richard Sheriff estimated that an additional £5.7bn was needed to allow state schools in England to fulfil their basic functions. He said: “On the current trajectory, schools will either have to make more unpalatable cuts to the curriculum and the support they provide to pupils, or they will face insolvency. This is not a scenario which is acceptable to anyone.

“It must be obvious to everyone that a funding gap of £5.7bn cannot be resolved by trying to squeeze a few more efficiencies out of a system where every cost has already been trimmed. The answer must come from the Treasury in the form of additional investment.”