Matt Warman MP calls for fairer school funding in Parliament

Matt Warman MP spoke up for pupils in Lincolnshire in a Westminster Hall debate on fair school funding last week.

The debate, led by Vice Chairman of the F40 campaign Graham Stuart MP, called on the Government to introduce a fairer funding formula for schools, which is assessed on the basis of pupil need. Under the current system, the best funded areas of England can receive up to £2,100 more per pupil per year than the most poorly funded.

According to the F40 group, each pupil in Lincolnshire received £4,378.46 for 2015/16 under the Schools Block element of the dedicated schools grant. Under the F40 proposals, using current figures, this would rise to £4,470.69 per pupil. The current average in England is £4,630.89 per pupil per year.

Matt also recently joined over 110 MPs in signing a cross-party letter to the Prime Minister, which urged him to consider the F40 campaign’s proposals for a new funding formula.

During the debate, Matt agreed with other MPs that many schools have become used to unfair funding, when they should not have to. He added that he would now like to see schools in Lincolnshire reach at least average levels of funding, and then continue to move upwards.

Matt commented, ‘Pupils in our county deserve to receive fair funding for their education, so I was pleased to highlight this in Parliament last week. Schools in rural areas face different but equally important challenges to those in more urban areas, so they should be funded more equally. Changes to the funding formula will mean that schools in the region will get the resources they deserve for the first time in generations.’

 

  • The full debate can be found via the following link: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmhansrd/cm151105/halltext/151105h0001.htm#15110530000001
  • The F40 campaign represents a group of the lowest funded education authorities in England where government-set cash allocations for primary and secondary pupils are the lowest in the country. As the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ remains and in some cases continues to widen, F40 is campaigning to change the way the government allocates funding to local authorities and schools.
Share
Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn

Sign up to Matt's newsletter

Matt and representatives on his behalf may contact you about matters relating to his work as MP for Boston and Skegness