Investment per pupil in England has increased from £2,500 a year in 1997 to £5,600 a year in 2007 to 2009. That has supported a big increase in attainment, with more than 60 per cent. of pupils now getting five or more GCSEs, compared with 45 per cent. in 1997. As the Leitch report showed, increasing skills in education has a long-term impact on economic growth.
I thank the Minister for her reply. Will she assure me that she will continue to work with colleagues in the Department for Children, Schools and Families to ensure that teenagers who want a practical, rather than an academic, career continue to get that funding and investment? That will enable the economy in Halifax to continue to grow, through the welcome investment by the Government into secondary education in Halifax, where GCSE results are above the national average and three of our schools—Halifax high, Park Lane and Sowerby Bridge—are in the top 30 most improved schools in the country.
My hon. Friend is right to say that there has been a significant improvement in the schools and education in her area. She is also right to say that that is a direct result of the additional investment that we have put in. I can assure her that I will continue to work closely with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on determining how we can sustain that investment and improve education in the future.
Does my right hon. Friend recall that one of the most welcome announcements by the former Chancellor was his commitment to close the funding gap between the per pupil spend in state schools and that in private schools? Does the Treasury still share that commitment? Will it be possible, in next week’s Budget statement, to give the House an update on the extent to which the funding gap has been narrowed?
I can tell my hon. Friend that we think it right substantially to increase investment spending. In fact, that spending will rise as a result of the comprehensive spending review to £6,600 per pupil in 2010-11. It is not fair that those who are in private schools should get such a consistent advantage in investment and funding, and that is why we have set such great store by increasing investment—something that the Conservatives have repeatedly refused to support.
Given the national priority to raise skill levels as far and wide as we can, let me tell my right hon. Friend that when just one school in Stafford, the Sir Graham Balfour, was transformed through the private finance initiative from tired buildings on two sites to a modern state-of-the-art learning environment, attainment levels rocketed. The school is now oversubscribed, and with my and other people’s help, it has an excellent partnership with a local manufacturing business. Should my right hon. Friend soon be talking to Ministers in the Department for Children, Schools and Families about accelerating the Building Schools for the Future programme, may I assure her that Staffordshire offers very good value for money in every sense of the word?
My hon. Friend is right that we should not underestimate the impact of good facilities on teachers, children and education as a whole. That is partly about the books, computers and facilities that we have invested in for teachers to use in the classroom, but it is also about the physical environment—the buildings in which people are able to learn. That is why we have allocated £9.3 billion for Building Schools for the Future and for academies; we want to see that money well spent.