F40 group welcomes three year education funding settlement

The f40 Group, which represents the education authorities in England at the bottom of the funding league, has welcomed the first ever three year funding settlement and the small, but significant, increase in funding for many of the poorest authorities.

David Kidney MP for Stafford and Chairman of the f40 group believes that the government’s announcement of schools’ funding for the next three years helps reduce the gap between the lower and the higher funded parts of the country.

He said: “We particularly welcome the government setting out the figures for three years in advance. This will help school governors and head teachers to plan their schools’ budgets with more certainty and allow them to plan for the future of their schools with more confidence.

“F40 members will also like the new £40 million allocation of funding to recognise “pockets of deprivation”. It means that many f40 authorities will receive additional funding next year and in subsequent years. In my own local authority area – Staffordshire – this will provide over £2 million extra and, for example, another f40 authority, Bedfordshire, will benefit to the tune of £1.2 million.

“This new money will help to start closing the gap in funding between the authorities at the top and bottom of the funding league table, but there is still a long way to go before we have the sort of equity within the system that f40 wants to see.”

F40 believes that fundamental change to the education funding formula is absolutely essential and it looks forward to the start of the Formula Review process that should begin early in the new year.

David Kidney said: “Next year, the government will be carrying out a major review of the formula for distributing central funding to schools. F40 will continue to press for a funding system that is as fair as possible. Every pupil’s education is equally valuable and that means that funding should ensure that all children get a good quality education”.

We will be working closely with the government to ensure that the views of our members are fully taken in to account. We have already started the process of gathering evidence that will prove the inequities within the current system and we will provide positive suggestions as to how funding can be distributed more fairly across the whole school system.”

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