The Department for Education wants schools to raise more of their own income.

A new strategy launched today, Supporting Excellent School Resource Management, includes a promise of more government help for schools to generate income for themselves.

It follows a Tes interview with education secretary Damian Hinds in which he did not offer any hope of increased government funding for schools in the years ahead.

Today’s 36-page document notes that income generation accounts for an average of 4 per cent of schools’ budgets - around £1.3 billion a year.

It notes that the majority of this comes from “letting of premises or from goods or services provided by the school”.

The document says that while this can “provide a valuable resource for the local community as well as having a positive impact on school resources”, the level of income generation “varies a great deal between schools”.

The strategy says: “We will work with the sector to produce guidance on different forms of income generation.

“We will encourage and support school leaders to adopt a strategic approach and help them to navigate through problems they may come across.

“This will mean that all schools are better able to raise extra income and benefit the community.”

The paper acknowledges that “overall funding for schools and the distribution of that funding are important”, but adds that “how it is used in practice to get the maximum impact is similarly vital”.

The document cites Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) research showing that by 2020, real-terms per-pupil spending for five- to 16-year-olds will be at least 50 per cent higher than it was in 2000.

However, it does not mention other IFS work that showed that school funding has been cut by 8 per cent since the Conservatives came to power in 2010.