Schools funding
Nick shares concerns about schools funding in West Sussex. It was not right that our children received less funding that others in similar parts of the country. West Sussex historically had the lowest schools funding of any shire authority. Nick therefore made a strong case for fair funding for West Sussex schools.
The Government responded with a new National Funding Formula, resulting in an extra £28 million for West Sussex schools which went a considerable way towards making funding fairer. Our secondary schools received up to 12 per cent more funding with the Formula is fully implemented.
However, funding pressures remained for some schools, and Nick continued to press for the closing of the fairness ‘gap’. He is particularly concerned about the funding of primary schools after transitional help expires, and about the sustainability of small rural primary schools. Nick has been in constant discussions with our local schools and West Sussex County Council about these issues. Our schools should be funded on the same basis as those in their peer group across England, although we must be wary of crude comparisons since everyone is agreed that schools in very deprived inner city areas will always have additional needs.
Nick welcomes the cash boost announced by the Prime Minister on 30 August 2019 to increase school funding by £4.6bn above inflation, levelling up education funding and giving all young people the same opportunities to succeed, regardless of where they grow up or go to school.
The cash boost means that from 2020, every secondary school will receive a minimum of £5,000 per pupil and every primary school will get a minimum of £4,000 from 2021-22.
This issue remains a high priority for Nick, and he will continue to stand up strongly for our local schools, including through representations to the new Education Secretary and the Chancellor. However, this is not just about funding. Nick is also very concerned about standards which in too many West Sussex schools have not been good enough, and he wants to hear more about how improvements will be made.
Latest Content
Arundel & South Downs MP Nick Herbert met the headteacher of Bury C of E Primary school, Thomas Moore, and the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, this week (Monday 4 November) to discuss the funding of small rural schools.
In Nick’s weekly article for the West Sussex County Times, Worthing Herald and Chichester Observer, he highlights good news for local services in West Sussex.
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.
Nick goes in to bat for West Sussex schools, arguing that they should be funded more sustainably under the new formula.
In his article for the West Sussex County Times, Worthing Herald & Chichester Observer, Nick discusses the ongoing difficulties for schools in West Sussex making ends meet.
Nick argues for reforms to West Sussex schools’ funding, and to ensure that their base rate of running costs are met.
In his article for the West Sussex County Times, Worthing Herald & Chichester Observer, Nick gives an update on the Brexit votes and balancing the Government's books.
In his article for the West Sussex County Times, Worthing Herald & Chichester Observer, Nick gives an update on his work in Parliament.
West Sussex MPs lobbied hard for the introduction of a National Funding Formula, and the extra £28 million for West Sussex schools has gone a considerable way towards making funding fairer. Our secondary schools will receive up to 12 per cent more funding when the Formula is fully implemented.
WINNING FAIR FUNDING
Nationally, schools funding has been protected and is at a record £40 billion a year despite the need to reduce the deficit, and funding per pupil has risen, but in recent years cost pressures in our schools have outweighed these gains.
Nick, along with other West Sussex MPs, made a strong formal submission to the Government in March 2017 about the issue. You can read this here. It recognised the funding pressures in our schools, and made a very strong case for fairness, including for a minimum level of funding for schools, ensuring that all schools have sufficient resourcing to deliver the curriculum.
Nick was pleased that the Conservative Party’s Manifesto at the last election recognised these concerns. It not only recommitted to introducing fair funding, but also pledged (i) that no school would lose funding after the new Formula is introduced and (ii) to increase the overall schools budget by £4 billion by 2022, representing more than a real terms increase for every year of the parliament. You can read these commitments on page 51 of the Manifesto here.
The Department of Education considered the submissions to its consultation and responded in September 2017 with improved proposals, backed by an extra £1.3 billion for the frontline schools budget. You can read Nick's response to this here. With this funding increase, the Government will now be spending more on schools over the next two years than promised by Labour in the election.
Nick has worked very hard on this issue over the past three years. He has held a number of meetings with local headteachers and governors to discuss it, he has called parliamentary debates to raise the issue, and he has met the Schools Minister, the Education Secretary and the Prime Minister to discuss his concerns. You can see a full list of Nick’s actions below.
Latest Actions
Nick spoke in the Westminster Hall debate on schools funding, to highlight the particular challenges faced by schools in West Sussex.
Nick met with the Secretary of State for Education, Damian Hinds, and other West Sussex MPs to discuss funding, standards and special needs.
Nick, in a delegation of West Sussex MPs, met with the Education Secretary and Schools Minister to discuss school funding and standards across the county. To see Nick's tweet about this meeting, click here.
West Sussex MPs met Regional Schools Commissioner for the South East, Dominic Herrington, to discuss school funding, governance and standards.
West Sussex MPs met at County Hall in Chichester to discuss the education system in West Sussex with local officials.
To update parents on the local funding situation, Nick wrote an article in the local press, which you can read here.
Nick and his fellow West Sussex MPs discussed the county's school funding situation and together agreed a joint position – you can read their statement on the issue here.
Nick and his fellow West Sussex MPs met with County Council representatives to describe school funding – you can read Nick’s account of this meeting here.
Nick visited several primary schools in the constituency including St James’ Primary in Coldwaltham, Graffham Infant School and Bury Primary School, to discuss their funding situations.
To update parents on the local funding situation, Nick wrote an article in the local press, whic you may read here.
In his article for the West Sussex County Times, Worthing Herald, and Chichester Observer, Nick welcomes the Government's response to the consultation which netted an increase of nearly £29 million for schools in West Sussex. You can read this article here.
After considering the Department for Education's response to the consultation, Nick welcomed the announcement of a minimum level of per-pupil funding, which had been a key request in his earlier submission to the consultation. You can read his comments in full here.
Nick received a letter from the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, explaining the Department for Education's response to the consultation on school funding reform. You can read this letter here.
Nick welcomed the fair funding announcement by Education Secretary, Justine Greening, which revealed that the Department of Education had taken on board a number of his suggestions made in his consultation submission. You can read a report of the Education Secretary's announcement here.
In his article for the West Sussex County Times, Worthing Herald, and Chichester Observer, Nick welcomes the the recent announcement of an extra £1.3 billion for school budgets. You can read this article here.
Nick received a letter from the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, acknowledging the West Sussex MPs’ joint submission and affirming that the Department for Education will respond to the consultation on school funding reform later this summer. You can read this letter here.
To mark the deadline of the Department for Education’s second consultation on funding reform, Nick’s article for the WSCT discussed his views on the funding issue and the actions that he and other local MPs have been taking to secure the better school funding West Sussex children deserve.
In a letter to the Education Secretary, Nick and other West Sussex MPs submitted a joint statement to the Department of Education’s consultation on school funding reform, to highlight the additional needs of local schools and to secure greater funding. You can read Nick’s news release explaining the letter here.
Nick welcomed the publication of a new report into school funding by the Education Policy Institute, and quoted from it in his 20 March letter to the Education Secretary. The report can be found here.
Nick, representing his West Sussex colleagues, joined with other MPs from underfunded Local Authorities in a delegation to meet with the Prime Minister, Theresa May, in order to discuss their concerns with the projected funding allocations of the proposed formula. You can hear an account of this meeting by Nick’s colleague Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP here.
Nick met with other West Sussex MPs to discuss efforts to secure fairer funding for local schools.
Nick’s staff attended a briefing held by the f40 campaign group, which represents the lowest funded education authorities in England. You can see the group's news release about the event here.
Nick, along with other West Sussex MPs, hosted a group of local headteachers for a meeting in Parliament with the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb. They put their questions to him, and the minister listened to their suggestions.
During a House of Commons Chamber debate, Nick asked the Education Secretary, Justine Greening, why it was that West Sussex schools were losing money when they are already in the worst-funded shire authority. You can read her answer here.