Henry Smith MP has welcomed plans announced today by the Department for Education which will ensure a national school funding formula will be introduced.

Henry said;

“I welcome the plans announced today which provide more detail on the Government’s plans to address the unfairness in the school funding formula.

“I’ve been working with other county MPs as well as Crawley teachers and parents, and presented a petition on this issue in the House of Commons in December.

“The Chancellor announced in the Autumn Statement that there would be a consultation on this issue and last month I joined local MPs and headteachers in meeting with the Education Minister, Sam Gyimah.

“I am writing to Crawley headteachers and parents to advise of this consultation. At present, the ten best funded areas receive an average of £6,297 per pupil per year, compared with an average of £4,208 in the ten worst funded areas – this includes West Sussex.

“I would urge anyone concerned about the education of Crawley pupils to take part in the consultation being organised by the Government – I am publishing the details on my website.”

The Government has started the process of introducing a national funding formula from 2017-18, moving towards a system where school funding is allocated on a consistent national formula. Local authorities will receive funding to help with their responsibilities towards young people with high-level special educational needs, on a fair and formulaic basis, so that no pupil is disadvantaged simply by where they live.

The Department for Education have announced two consultations, ‘schools national funding formula’ and ‘high-needs funding reform’.

The plans outlined today will ensure:

• “Every school and local area, no matter where they are in the country, is funded fairly - according to need rather than the oddities of history; meaning areas with the highest need will attract the most funding and ensuring that all children get access to the education they deserve”
• “Funding gets straight to the frontline - the current school funding system relies on local authorities determining how much funding schools are allocated. A single national funding formula for schools will remove the role of the local authority, ensuring pupils with similar needs attract the same level of funding to their school, and will also give headteachers far more certainty over future budgets”

Information on both consultations is as follows:

Schools national funding formula

• Information
  • Consultation information (GOV.UK)
  • Consultation response page
  • Close of consultation: 5.00pm, 17th April 2016
• To reply:
  • Contact email address: [email protected]
  • Online form
  • Contact postal address: Department for Education, Piccadilly Gate, Store Street, Manchester M1 2WD

High needs funding reform

• Information
  • Consultation information (GOV.UK)
  • Consultation response page
  • Close of consultation: 5.00pm, 17th April 2016
• To reply:
  • Contact email address: [email protected]
  • Online form
  • Contact postal address: Department for Education, Piccadilly Gate, Store Street, Manchester M1 2WD

These reforms build on the Conservative manifesto commitment to protect the core schools budget. This will be over £40 billion next year, including the pupil premium; funding worth £2.5 billion a year targeted at the most disadvantaged pupils. This is the highest-ever level of funding for schools of any government.