Responding to today's Budget, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “We welcome Labour fulfilling its long-term commitment to lifting the two-child benefit cap.

"This should help build on other really positive initiatives like the expansion of free school meals and roll-out of breakfast clubs to reduce the number of children in poverty.

“NAHT has long called for action to bear down on the causes and impact of poverty, which can harm not only children’s school attendance, but also their ability to focus and flourish in the classroom.

“Funding to improve and upgrade playgrounds and for secondary school libraries, is of course welcome. But this wasn’t a budget focused on public spending and school finances remain in a perilous state, with some school leaders facing really unpalatable choices around cuts to staff and resources.

“If this government really wants to make its mark on education, it must use some of the income raised in today’s Budget to ensure all schools have the resources they need.

“It must show real ambition by investing more in fixing the often decrepit school estate, ensuring all pupils with special educational needs (SEND) get the support they deserve, and addressing the acute recruitment and retention crisis.”