Fair Funding Breakthrough Welcomed By MP

Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stuart has welcomed the Chancellor’s commitment to introduce fair school funding.

As part of Comprehensive Spending Review George Osborne has confirmed the funding of schools in England will be overhauled but the NUT say there are no winners.

Commenting on the news Graham said;

“I am delighted that the Government has committed to introduce a national funding formula for English schools, ending the postcode lottery that means children in East Yorkshire lose out for no good reason.”

“As always, the devil will lie in the detail and we will need to see the full proposals in the consultation, but in principle this represents a huge step forward and is a decision of lasting significance.”

“That said, today’s news does not mark the end of my campaign. Having fought and failed to obtain fair school funding for a decade as the MP for Beverley and Holderness, that moment will come only when the money is actually received by our schools.”

“When the full plans are published I will go back to ministers and work hard to ensure the final settlement delivers the fairest possible deal for local children.”

A new funding formula will set a national rate that every school will receive for each pupil, with additional funding for those with extra needs.

Teachers’ unions said that despite redistributions of funding, the overall national picture remained a forecast fall of 8% in real-terms school budgets.

The reallocation could mean a big loss of funding for London boroughs, said the NUT.

“There are no winners and losers under the government’s funding proposals – there are only losers and even bigger losers,” said the NUT’s Kevin Courtney.

Crucially, from 2017-18 onwards the resources schools and local authorities will receive will be based on pupil characteristics rather than historic political calculations.

The Department for Education will consult on the detail of the announcement in early 2016.