Carried out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the report warns overall that cuts to education spending over the last decade will put a ‘major brake’ on the Government’s ambition to level up poorer areas of the country.
Early years funding
Looking at early years funding specifically, it says that ‘Before the pandemic, spending per hour on the early years entitlement tended to follow a ratchet pattern: meaningful boosts in 2012 and 2017 were followed by years of cash-terms freezes, eroding spending power in real terms.’
It goes on to state that the extra £160 million next year from the 2021 spending review will not be enough to cover rising costs.
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