Home Secretary Amber Rudd was challenged on Radio 4‘s Woman’s Hour this morning by a caller asking about per-pupil spending.

Ms Rudd cited the Tory pledge to put another £4 billion into school budgets by the end of the next Parliament, and added: “Your caller is right - that won’t impact on the per-pupil funding in a way she would like - but I would say to her, and to everybody else, we will continue to make sure that the standards increase so that the children get the better outcomes.”

Last week, education secretary Justine Greening avoided directly answering a question asking whether per-pupil funding would rise or fall in real terms under her party’s plans.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has calculated that the Tory pledge would equate to a real-terms cut in spending per pupil of 2.8 per cent between 2017-18 and 2021-22.

It also found that Liberal Democrat plans would keep per-pupil funding at the current level in real terms over the same period, while Labour pledges would amount to a 6 per cent increase.

The news came as the Liberal Democrats unveiled plans to spend £7 billion to bring all schools buildings in England up to a “satisfactory condition”.

Today’s announcement expands on the party’s manifesto pledge to deliver “capital investment in schools and hospitals to support capacity increases and modernisation”.

Huge cost of renovations

In February, the National Audit Office said £6.7 billion was needed to restore all schools to a satisfactory condition, with a further £7.1 billion required to bring them up to “good”.

Sarah Olney, the Lib Dem education spokesperson, said: “We will invest an additional £7 billion in our schools, enough to repair every school in the country.

“This will allow school budgets to be spent on books, teachers and equipment instead of being diverted to fix leaking roofs.”

In its manifesto, Labour said it “will invest in new school buildings, including the phased removal of asbestos from existing schools”.

The party has pledged £13.8 billion “to ensure that school buildings are up to standard”.

A Conservative spokesman said: “Only Theresa May’s Conservatives will give every young person the best possible start in life by investing in our schools because we are the only party that will keep the economy strong.

“A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for Jeremy Corbyn to wreck our economy, starving our public services of funding. The only way to safeguard future generations is to vote for Theresa May and her Conservative team.”

In November 2015, the Conservative government announced more than £23 billion worth of investment in schools, but did not break down how much of this was to repair existing school buildings and how much was for the promised 500 free schools and 600,000 additional school places.

The Lib Dems said their proposals were for additional money on top of the £23 billion.

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