Headteachers will get extra money for school repairs but, as expected, it was health not education that was the big winner from this year’s Budget.

Chancellor Gordon Brown promised an extra pound;1 billion for the health service this year and said that its budget will rise by more than pound;40bn over the next five years.

Education in England received pound;270 million and a promise that spending will increase “significantly” as a proportion of national income during this Parliament.

This goes further than Labour’s manifesto which merely promised that education’s share would increase.

Estelle Morris, Education Secretary, was said to be delighted with the pledge. But she is looking to this summer’s comprehensive spending review to provide her with funds for her reforms and means to reduce teachers’

workload.

The TES learnt this week, that ministers expect to be able extend across the country education maintenance grants, designed to encourage 16-year-olds to stay on in education, if the Chancellor agrees a pound;500m bid in the spending review. All 16-year-old students would be able to apply for grants of up to pound;40 a week from 2004.

Education ministers are also negotiating with the Treasury and hope to win pound;500 million to tackle pupil behaviour as well as money to reduce teachers’ workload.

Not all the pound;270m in the Budget is new money. An pound;87m package to cut bad behaviour by providing one-to-one advisers and putting more police in schools comes partly from existing budgets.

The headline increases in grants given directly to schools also include some previously announced money.

But primary headteachers will see their capital budgets rise by an average of almost pound;2,500 to pound;14,000 this year as a result of the Budget. Average grants to secondaries will increase by more than pound;7,100 to pound;42,000.

In addition, pound;70m will be made available to modernise schools, colleges and universities. Details will be announced in the next few weeks but school science labs could be a priority following a Treasury commissioned report published this week which said that currently only around a third are up to standard.

A childcare tax credit and pound;30m for workplace learning make up the rest of the pound;270m.

But while union leaders welcomed Mr Brown’s pledge, heads warned that classroom unrest would get worse unless education received big increases in the three- year spending review.

“The Budget is all promise and not a lot of delivery. If the spending review does not come up trumps on matters such as workload and performance related pay, then all hell will let loose,” said David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Headteachers.

Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers said:

“What the Chancellor has not told us is how much the increase in overall spending on education is to be.

“The question remains as to whether the additional expenditure will be sufficient to provide the support to ease teachers’ workload. The answer will not be known until the Comprehensive Spending Review in July.

“Without adequate funding, recruitment into the profession will continue to decline.”

John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association said that ministers should commission an education version of the Wanless report, which recommended big increases in health spending.

“It would undoubtedly conclude that a similar increase is needed in education if schools are to be adequately funded for the next 20 years,” he said.

As The TES went to press the allocation for Wales had not been announced. See next week’s paper for more details and a full analysis of the Budget.

FE Focus, 33