FAIR SCHOOL FUNDING CAMPAIGN
21st October 2015
Sir Nicholas Soames is one of 111 MPs who has written an open letter to the Prime Minister calling on the Government to deliver school funding reform. The MPs, working on a cross-Party basis, ask the Prime Minister to implement the funding formula proposed by the F40 campaign group, which would ensure fair funding based on pupil need.
In September Sir Nicholas led a delegation of his West Sussex colleagues to meet with the Secretary of State for Education to discuss education funding in West Sussex. Following the meeting Sir Nicholas received a Written Parliamentary Answer from Sam Gyimah MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, in which he stated; “The Government fully understands the strength of feeling among Members that school funding needs to be made fairer.”
Under the current system, the ten best funded areas of England will receive an average grant of £6,297 per pupil this year, compared to an average of just £4,208 per pupil in the ten most poorly funded areas.
In their letter, the MPs say; “It is widely acknowledged that the existing school funding model is a muddle and that funding for individual schools with similar pupil characteristics is arbitrary and unfair.
“At a time of spending restraint it is more important than ever that funding is allocated based on need. F40 has come up with a formula which would see the funding cake shared much more fairly.
“We believe this formula can help deliver a solution. We want the children in our schools to continue to have a broad range of subjects to study, good resources to use, well maintained buildings, reasonably sized classes and excellent pastoral support. Fairer funding is integral to all of this, and we urge you to deliver it.”
The MPs’ letter was coordinated by F40 Vice Chairman Graham Stuart MP, who chaired Parliament’s Education Select Committee in 2010-2015. Graham Stuart said; “The fact that so many MPs have signed this letter on a cross-Party basis shows the strength of feeling in favour of school funding reform. This is about bringing an end to an arbitrary and unfair system – it’s not about rural versus urban, or Conservative vs Labour, it’s about bringing order from chaos. The Government deserves credit for promising to act and now is the time to deliver a rational, needs-based funding settlement.
“At a time when the Department for Education is considering its options, we want the Government to be in no doubt that our constituents deserve swift and comprehensive funding reform to deliver fairness for their children.
“The F40 group has campaigned tirelessly to raise the profile of this issue and has made sensible suggestions about how a new funding formula could be introduced. In the meantime our campaign is continuing with Parliamentary petitions being coordinated by F40 MPs with the help of local authorities and schools to let people have their say. We won’t rest until we have delivered fair funding for English schools.”
Notes
1. 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.
2. The F40 campaign has support from MPs, Councillors, Education Directors, Governors, Head Teachers and parents. Teaching unions including the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) both support a new national funding formula.
3. Graham Stuart has served as Vice Chairman of the F40 campaign since May 2015, when he succeeded Robin Walker MP, now PPS to the Education Secretary.
4. F40’s proposals would deliver fairness to areas which have been underfunded for far too long. Barnsley would see the largest funding gain of any local authority, adding an extra £460 per pupil per year.