MP raises concerns over schools funding (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

MP raises concerns over schools funding

GLOUCESTERSHIRE schools are among the worst funded in the country. And Cotswold MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown is calling for a complete re-think on the Government's education spending.

The Conservative expressed his concerns during a recent House of Commons debate on the Government's Education Bill.

And he drew attention to the findings of the F40 (Fair Education for Funding Group), which was formed to highlight the inequalities of education funding and is made up of the 100 hundred lowest funded education authorities (LEAs) in the UK, which includes Gloucestershire.

During the debate, Mr Clifton-Brown said: "Gloucestershire is well within the bottom sector of the F40 group because it has always been a low-spending authority.

"It is grossly unfair that one child should receive different funding from another child receiving the same education in broadly similar circumstances in a different part of the country.

"Whatever the nature of the Government in power, it is about time that we devised a fairer system for funding our children's education."

Mr Clifton-Brown says the Government should look more closely at individual LEAs to see whether their funding is at the right level.

He suggests that, unlike the current payouts, a basic amount should be allocated to every primary and secondary school pupil in the country and then additional funding should be considered for criteria such as deprived areas.

He also expressed his concern that sixth form colleges receive less funding than schools with sixth forms.

He told his fellow MPs: "It is wrong, for example, that Cirencester College, an excellent further education college in my constituency, should receive less funding per pupil than a school in the maintained sector."

Mr Clifton-Brown has vowed to keep putting pressure on the Government over the issue.