Tim Loughton MP (East Worthing & Shoreham) has welcomed the Government’s announcement of more resources for West Sussex schools with the introduction of a new fair funding formula.
On Thursday 14 September the Education Secretary, Justine Greening, announced the Government’s final decisions on the national funding formula which will come into effect from April next year, delivering on the Conservative Party’s manifesto pledge to make school funding fairer.
West Sussex will see an increase in block funding for its schools of £27.7 million by 2019/20, a rise of 6.5 per cent, compared with a proposed increase of £14.5 million in the Government’s consultation last December. There will also be an increase of £1.3 million for high needs.
Following this, in July the Education Secretary an extra £1.3 billion for schools, increasing the core funding from almost £41 billion this year to £43.5 billion in two years’ time. This means that per pupil funding will now be maintained in real terms for the remaining two years of the Spending Review period, as funding transitions to the new national formula.
The Government has now said that from 2019-20 all secondary schools will receive at least £4,800 per pupil overall, whilst primaries will attract at least £3,500 per pupil overall through the redesigned formula.
Next year (2018/19) West Sussex secondary schools will receive £4,756 per pupil in block funding, compared to £4,500 at present. Primary schools in the county will receive £3,677 per pupil.
The actual amounts allocated to schools will depend on decisions by West Sussex County Council. The total shortfall in funding for West Sussex schools, which have recently been facing rising costs which have outstripped annual increases in their funding, had been estimated at £48 million by the f40 campaign for fair schools funding. The Government’s announcement goes more than half way towards meeting this target.
Tim said:
"I am glad that the Secretary of State has listened to our constant lobbying about the unfairness of the West Sussex position. This deal represents good progress and many schools will now be in a much stronger position to balance their budgets. However the gap between West Sussex schools and their inner city equivalents still remains too wide and this will still need to be addressed at future education funding settlements and we will continue to make the case that West Sussex pupils are certainly not worthless than their peers elsewhere in the country simply on account of their postcode and assumption that we face fewer challenges."