On Wednesday, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivered the second budget of the current Labour government, pledging millions into the education sector.

Last year, billions were divided into facets like the School Rebuilding Programme and the expansion of government-funded nursery care, as well as millions into their openings.

Here is everything you need to know about how the Chancellor’s promises will affect education and childcare across Yorkshire:

Two-child benefit cap to be removed

The biggest announcement across both sectors is the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap from universal credit, starting in April 2026.

It comes after mounting pressure from the National Education Union and the Local Government association to name a few, of which the latter stated that by lifting the cap, it would immediately “lift 250,000 children out of poverty overnight.”

The labour government have forecast that altogether, the cap would lift 450,000 children out of poverty.

The Office for Budget Responsibility said that it would cost £3 billion by 2029-30.

Of the constituencies in the country of which twenty five percent of children were affected by the two child limit, five were in Yorkshire, including areas covering Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford and Kirklees, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Control to be taken over mounting SEND debts

The government is currently facing a £6 billion shortfall in terms of provisions for Special Education Needs and pupils and facilities, of which they state that they plan to absorb current deficits.

Earlier this year, the government lifted a statutory override, a mechanism that allowed local councils to allocate SEND spending, which will end in 2028.

With no definitive plan in place, many have seen the announcement as nothing more than an attempt to subdue the pressure, and the numbers posed by the OBR may pose a long term fiscal risk.

The OBR has warned the government that by 2028-29 when the override ends, council debt could reach an unprecedented £14 billion in debt.

They said that the override has “masked, not resolved” SEND spending.

SEND provisions have become a prevalent topic recently, with a BBC article citing that some pupils in Sheffield were completing 50 mile round trips just to get to school.

Sheffield City Council stated that there were 2,520 pupils under the SEND bracket that qualified for funded educational transport, and even with a previous government promise of 740 million across the country to help fund this, the council were minimising costs for the journeys.

Student Loan repayment threshold set to be frozen in 2026

Next year, a 3 year plan sees a freezing of student loan repayment thresholds until 2029.

The threshold is the starting income level at which graduates repay their student loans after leaving university or college.

The decision means that graduates are set to pay more on their student loans, with the subsequent rise in wages meaning that more will meet the threshold quicker.

Shadow education secretary Laura Trott has branded the decision as a “disgraceful betrayal of a generation” as more scrutiny comes under the government to drop the rate of youth unemployment.

Labour stated that the pledge was to “ensure the sustainability of the student loan system.”

For the 12 universities across Yorkshire and the Humber Region, the measures apply to every student on a Plan 2 loan.

Boost in funding for Secondary school library books

It was announced that £5 million will be distributed across the country to state secondary schools, to aid them with the cost of library books, which is £1,400 per school.

This comes with Reeves’ previous pledge of an additional ten million pounds in support to provide every primary school with a library by the end of the decade.

Further funding for playgrounds announced

Plans to invest £18 million into over 200 playgrounds across the country were slotted within the budget yesterday.

Although there is no concrete plan to suggest where the playgrounds will be, steps will be in place to try and tackle the ongoing issue.

Research conducted earlier this year concluded that from a survey of over 2,000 parents, just under two thirds are saying that their children are playing outside far less than they did.

In Yorkshire specifically, almost a third of parents struggled to find a playground to accommodate their childrens needs, or being safe for them at all.