Schools across Shropshire will not see their budgets rise over the next four years, the Government has admitted.

However because the schools’ budget will not increase now above inflation, as announced by Chancellor George Osborne in the spending review, because of changes to the official forecast, it means that the £430 for the pupil premium will not now, in real terms, be extra money.

Under the scheme, every child whose parents earn less than £16,000 a year will be entitled to the payment which will be given to schools to spend on cutting class sizes and increasing one-to-one sessions.

The extra money – worth £625 million in 2011/12 – is designed to improve results among the poorest children who are eligible for free school meals.

Under the capital grants allocations for 2011/12, Shropshire will receive £10.7m and Telford & Wrekin £4.7m.

In addition, the basic school funding allocation per pupil – which does not include the pupil premium or capital funding for building projects – is staying the same.

This means that in 2011/12, Shropshire will get £4,611 per pupil, while Telford & Wrekin will receive £4,854 per pupil.

Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski, who has been campaigning for a better deal for Shropshire students for years, met with Schools Secretary Michael Gove last week to discuss the discrepancy in funding between the county and other areas.

He is preparing to arrange a further meeting in the new year backed with a delegation of local MPs and headteachers.

Mr Kawczynski said: “In my view, the education budget should be tailored so that there isn’t such a huge discrepancy between areas.

“I understand that some areas will get more than others because of various factors, but it is the huge discrepancy between Shropshire and other areas, such as inner-city Birmingham, which is causing me great concern.

“The lack of funding in Shropshire has an impact on special needs children.”

The Tory MP added: “I have been told there are two main criteria – the level of deprivation and the number of ethnic minorities in the area. We have areas of deprivation in Shropshire, so it is not fair to discriminate in my view against Shropshire simply because we don’t have high levels of people from different ethnic backgrounds.”

By London Reporter Sunita Patel