The Government is under fire for its plans to help pupils catch up after more than a year of disruption to their schooling. The Department for Education’s (DfE)chief adviser on the issue, Kevan Collins, resigned stating that the £1.4bn package offered amounted to just £22 per primary school pupil.

This isn’t just a DfE issue; how the Government manages school catch-up policy is closely linked to the levelling up agenda – with schools in many less affluent parts of the North and the Midlands needing far more than £22 per pupil to help them catch up with their peers elsewhere in the country.