Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski voices concern over school funding

Daniel Kawczynski has joined a call from backbenchers for changes to be made within months and believes that ministers face a campaign from dozens of their own MPs unless they commit to swift reform.

He is one of a number of MPs calling for the disparity between funding for schools deprived areas and rural schools to be rectified.

Teachers will be made redundant and class sizes will increase without action, they say.

Mr Kawczynski said that "huge numbers" of Conservatives in the Commons were demanding change.

He added: "I think you would be fascinated how strong the feelings are on this issue and the sort of campaign that is going to be pursued in the course of this year.

"We managed to get the funding changed within the last parliament so that in Shropshire schools there is an extra £10.2 million each year. There are huge disparities between the schools around the UK. Shropshire schools gets around 30-40 per cent less than schools in other areas.

He added: "There are still big gaps and we are now clubbing together for a further review so that the differences between the areas are minimised. There needs to be a realignment of how schools are funded so there is a greater sense of fairness for places such as Shropshire."

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "The last government made considerable progress in reforming the school funding system.

"But we recognise there is still work to do."