Shrewsbury MP's call for action on 'fairer' school funding
A Shropshire MP is calling on the Government to deliver its promise on bridging the gap on school funding across the country.
Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, is one of a number of MPs calling for the disparity between funding for schools in deprived areas and rural schools to be remedied.
It is feared teachers will be made redundant and class sizes will increase without action.
Mr Kawczynski is one of 111 MPs who have written to Prime Minister David Cameron demanding the government delivers fair school funding reform. The MPs, working on a cross-party basis, have asked the Prime Minister to implement the funding formula proposed by the F40 campaign group, which would ensure fair funding based on pupil need.
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.
Currently, the 10 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 10 most poorly funded areas.
Mr Kawczynski, who has campaigned for fairer funding for rural schools for a number of years, helped secure a £10 million funding increase for Shropshire during the last parliament.
He said the funding was a "step in the right direction" but is now calling on the Government to continue to act on its promise to deliver fairer funding for Shropshire schools.
"It just doesn't strike me as right that in some parts of the country the funding per pupil is double that of other areas," he said.
In the MPs' letter, they describe the existing school funding model as "arbitrary and unfair". It said: "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 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."
