Update on campaign to end postcode lottery funding for York schools
July 14, 2015
Today in Parliament, Julian attended the F40 campaign meeting with MPs from across the country to agree a way forward on changing the way in which school funds are allocated.
The current mainstream schools funding model is a complex network of funding grants. Due to a heavy weighting towards deprivation, York now has the seventh worst funded schools budget in the country, with the local authority receiving on average £4,209 per pupil, compared to schools in the City of London that receive £8,595 per pupil.
The Government has committed to introducing a national funding formula and this year the Department for Education invested an additional £390 million in order to increase funding for the least fairly funded schools in areas like York. This has been welcomed as a major step towards a fairer funding system but more still needs to be done.
Following today’s meeting, Julian said “Whilst we are lucky that York has excellent schools, it is unfair that we still suffer from a historic funding formula that disproportionately awards funding towards the larger cities. A key part of the Conservative Party manifesto is to make schools funding fairer and I will be holding the Government to account in order to make sure that they deliver on this promise.”
Along with the Chair of the F40 campaign, Graham Stuart, Julian and his North Yorkshire and East Riding colleagues will soon be out campaigning with a petition for fairer funding, which will be presented en-masse in Parliament in the autumn to emphasise the depth of public support for a fairer settlement.
Julian has also been working closely with Cllr Jenny Brooks, Executive Member for Education, Children and Young People at the City of York Council. Both Julian and Jenny are now seeking a meeting with the Minister for Childcare and Education, Sam Gyimah, to discuss the future funding of York’s schools.
Pictured: Julian with Graham Stuart, Chair of the F40 Campaign and MP for Beverley and Holderness
