Title

WHITEHALL

Labour: £500m academies black hole

The chancellor’s plan to transform every school into an academy faces a £560m funding shortage, according to a new analysis.

The chancellor's plan to transform every school into an academy faces a £560m funding shortage, according to a new analysis.

In his Budget speech on Wednesday, George Osborne declared his intention to convert every primary and secondary school in the country into an academy by 2020.

An analysis of his plan by Labour showed the schools system was facing a black hole of £560m.

There are 15,632 schools in England that are not yet academies and the average cost of conversion is £44,837, meaning academisation would cost £700m.

The Budget allocates £640m over four years to be split between meeting the cost of full academisation and the funding of a new formula to end uneven levels of funding for schools in England.

But Labour highlighted another section of the same document which earmarks £500m for the new national funding formula, leaving just £140m for academisation.

Labour's shadow education secretary, Lucy Powell, said: ‘Schools are already facing an 8% cut to their budgets, the first time education spending has fallen since the mid-1990s.

‘This £500m black hole in the education budget means that schools will be further out of pocket as a result.

‘The chancellor needs to come clean about where this money is going to come from,' she added.

Council leaders have also issued warnings about the plans, saying the move ‘defied reason'.

The Conservatives called Labour's calculations 'shoddy'.

WHITEHALL

Children's social care inquiry reveals system strain and reform

By Martin Ford | 16 October 2026

A picture of a system under strain emerged as a wide-ranging inquiry into children’s social care got under way.

WHITEHALL

The route out of EFS

By Owen Mapley | 15 October 2026

Exceptional financial support to councils must become a bridge back to sustainability, says Owen Mapley.

WHITEHALL

Autumn Budget: Funding counties' growth

By Steve Broadbent | 14 October 2026

Counties hold the key to growth and public service reform, but the Budget must match ambition with investment, says Steve Broadbent.

WHITEHALL

Electoral dysfunction

By Jonathan Werran | 06 October 2026

Election uncertainty threatens local government reorganisation, devolution plans and councils’ ability to prepare effectively, writes Jonathan Werran.

Popular articles by William Eichler

-->