THE boss of one of Bradford’s leading academy chains has criticised the Chancellor Philip Hammond for his “little extra” funding announced in the Budget earlier this week.

Sir Nick Weller, chief executive of Dixons Academies Trust, the largest academy chain in the district hit out at the Chancellor, saying the investment of £400 million into the nation’s schools is simply money that was cut from the schools budget last year being returned.

The money, which works out at an average of £10,000 per primary school and £50,000 per secondary school, was announced in the Budget on Monday.

Delivering his Budget, Mr Hammond said: “I am announcing a £400 million in-year bonus to help our schools buy the little extras they need.”

But the “little extras” funding did not go down well with the chief of Dixons, which runs nine schools in the district.

Sir Nick Weller said: “This is more of a trick than a treat from the Chancellor this Halloween week.

“He’s simply returned the £400 million he took back from the education budget in 2017.

“Per-pupil funding is falling. The costs of employing staff are rising. Special educational needs and/or disabilities are subsidised by mainstream budgets.

“All schools are having to cut staff and narrow the curriculum. This government needs to invest properly in the education of our children, and the Chancellor’s ‘little extras’ will not meet this need.”

Bradford East MP Imran Hussain called the funding “an insult”.

He said: “When schools in Bradford are unable to even afford the basics such as teachers, books and pens, let alone the ‘little extras’ that the Chancellor speaks of, this budget isn’t just a slap in the face for our overworked and underpaid teachers, it’s an insult.

“The one-off funding put forward in the budget will do absolutely nothing to reverse the fact that school budgets across the country are £1.7 billion lower in real terms than they were in 2010, and nothing to reverse the fact that after years of austerity, our schools have been savaged by this Tory Government.

“Teachers are leaving the profession at an unprecedented rate due to the government’s relentless austerity agenda, leaving too many teaching vacancies and too many overcrowded classrooms. It is time that the Chancellor listened to what teachers are saying, and started putting real money back into our schools.”