Employer National Insurance Contributions: School Redundancies

I am pleased to inform the House that the Government are over a third of the way to meeting our plan for change milestone: compared to last year, we have over 2,300 more teachers in schools and over 1,000 more in training. Whether on private school tax breaks or on teacher recruitment and retention, the Conservatives’ scaremongering is not coming to fruition, but they continue to talk down our education system, to be disconnected from reality and to be wrong.

May I update the Minister, who seems to be very complacent on this issue? In Harrow, where I have been out to see many of our schools, since we passed the resignation date, vacancies are not being filled and many staff feel threatened with being made redundant from our schools. That is not good for our children or for the education system. All the schools say that these issues are because of the national insurance hikes that have taken place, which are penalising school budgets. Will the Minister take action to ensure that money is provided to enable schools to recruit the staff that we need?

There is absolutely no complacency on the Government Benches—we saw complacency over the past 10 years, and we are picking up the pieces and fixing the system. We have committed significant funding to schools. We are providing mainstream schools and high needs settings with over £930 million to support them with increases in national insurance contributions. At the spring Budget, we announced additional funding to the tune of £4.7 billion per year by 2028-29, compared with 2025-26. We are supporting schools to get on and improve education, creating excellent outcomes for every child, and we will continue to do so.

I very much welcome the 2,300 extra teachers that Labour’s plan for change has seen in our schools, but school support staff are just as important as teachers in ensuring the delivery of the well-run schools we have in Ealing Southall. Will the Minister update the House on progress in reinstating the school support staff negotiating body, which was abolished by the Conservative party in 2010?

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw attention to the fantastic work done in our schools not only by teachers, but by all school staff. One of the first things we did in Government was to introduce legislation to bring back the school support staff negotiating body, to ensure that those staff are recognised for their vital work and that they are part of the conservation about terms, conditions and pay. That process is under way in Parliament, and we are in strong negotiations on a continuous basis through our improving education together plan, which allows stakeholders to get around the table.

I call the shadow Minister.

The last Conservative Government added 27,000 extra teachers. Although we would never know it from the Minister’s answer, there are 400 fewer teachers in our schools than last year. Labour promised 6,500 more teachers, but it is ignoring the loss of 2,900 primary school teachers, because apparently they do not count. The loss of teachers is not a coincidence. The Confederation of School Trusts and the Association of School and College Leaders have shown that schools have been left up to 35% short in compensation for the national insurance rise. Will Ministers finally admit that they broke their promise to fully compensate schools for that tax rise?

I think the hon. Gentleman’s maths need a bit of work. He will know as well as anybody that pupil numbers in primary are down and keep on falling, yet recruiting and retaining expert teachers is crucial to this Government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity. That is why we have committed to recruiting 6,500 additional expert teachers, and we are targeting them at the sectors in which they are most needed. It is not the Government’s fault that those on the Opposition Front Bench do not seem to be able to add up or pay proper attention.