Steve Double, Member of Parliament for St Austell and Newquay, has welcomed the announcement by Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening MP, that the Department for Education will be increasing spending on schools by £1.3 billion over the next two years as part of a new funding formula for schools.
Speaking in the House of Commons today, the Secretary of State said she is:
“… introducing a national funding formula for schools and high needs from April 2018 that [will] provide a per pupil cash increase in respect of every school and every local area, and maintain the overall budget in real terms, per pupil.”
“This is a historic reform. It means, for the first time, the resources that the government is investing in our schools will be distributed according to a formula based on the individual needs and characteristics of every school in the country.”
Commenting, Steve said:
“This is good news for schools in Mid-Cornwall. I have seen the data as part of the new funding formula and no school is losing out.”
“Just earlier this week, I questioned the Secretary of State on the importance of recognising the rural and isolated nature of some of our schools and their communities and that this should be included in the formula.
“I am pleased to see in today’s announcement that for the smallest, most remote schools, the Government will distribute a further £26 million in dedicated sparsity funding. Only 47% of eligible schools received sparsity funding in 2017-18 because some local authorities chose not to use this factor. The new national funding formula will recognise all eligible schools.”
“It is key that the Government understands the different needs of rural communities to urban communities and considers the costs of delivering services in relation to this. Nowhere is this more important than in the education of our children.”
“I am pleased to see the Government has listened to the lobbying from both myself and my Cornish MP colleagues and is introducing a funding formula that will be fair to our schools and our children.”