Nick welcomes £14 billion schools funding boost
Arundel & South Downs MP Nick Herbert has welcomed news that funding for England’s schools will increase by £14 billion over the next three years.
The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced the giant cash boost on Friday (30 August), delivering on his pledge when entering Downing Street to increase school funding by £4.6bn above inflation.
The announcement means that every secondary school will receive a minimum of £5,000 per pupil next year and every primary school will get a minimum of £4,000 from 2021-22.
19 of the 34 primary schools in the Arundel & South Downs constituency currently receive less than £4,000 per pupil, while 2 of the 5 secondary schools receive less than £5,000 per pupil.
Mr Herbert has campaigned strongly for fair funding for schools in West Sussex, highlighting that children in the County receive less funding than others in similar parts of the country.
Along with other West Sussex MPs, Mr Herbert called parliamentary debates to raise the issue, and held a succession of meetings with Ministers to press his concerns.
The MP welcomed the new National Funding Formula, introduced in 2017, under which West Sussex schools gained by some £30 million a year, going more than half way towards closing the fairness ‘gap’. However, funding pressures remained, and MPs continued to press the case for fairness.
Mr Herbert said: “West Sussex has historically been one of the worst funded education authorities in the country, and although the extra money for the County’s schools which we won through the new Funding Formula helped, there were still pressures on their budgets.”
“West Sussex MPs lobbied hard for fair funding and the Prime Minister’s announcement is great news which will really make a difference to our local schools.”
The funding package for 5-16 schools includes £2.6 billion for 2020/21, £4.8 billion for 21/22, and £7.1 billion for 22/23 compared to 19/20. This will bring the schools budget to £52.2bn in 22/23.
In addition to this, schools will receive £4.4billion over three years to cover rising pension costs and ensure they can focus their resources on the front line.
ENDS
Notes
1. To see the Government’s announcement of additional funding: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-boosts-schools-with-14-billion-package.
2. To see all of Nick’s actions on schools funding: https://www.nickherbert.com/schools-funding.
3. Photograph - from photo library of Nick Herbert MP - Nick visiting pupils at Thakeham Primary School Feb 2018.