Dame Caroline Spelman, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Meriden, has welcomed a pledge by Theresa May to deliver a new funding formula which will be fairer for Solihull borough schools and would ensure that no school lost out.
Setting out her Manifesto pledges on education the Prime Minister, Theresa May on Thursday, announced plans to move forward with a new schools funding formula and provide an additional £4 billion in national funding for schools in the next Parliament.
Speaking after the manifesto launch, Dame Caroline said, Over the last 20 years representing schools in the Meriden constituency, I have consistently supported calls for fairer funding for schools in the borough. I am delighted that if re-elected, the Conservatives would guarantee an improved schools formula which would ensure that no school loses out”.
As a founder member of the ‘Fairer 40’ group, a campaign started in the 1990's to raise awareness of the challenges faced by the 40 worst-funded Local Education Authorities, Solihull Council has always argued for a fairer distribution of the national education budget which has on average seen local pupils almost £1,000 worse off compared to pupils in Birmingham.
Dame Caroline added, “The reality is that Solihull borough schools have been worse funded than those in neighbouring Birmingham and Coventry. Under the proposed new formula, Solihull schools were getting a 3% uplift in their budgets prior to this manifesto commitment but anomalies in the formula would have seen many primaries miss out.
“Following a nationwide consultation, the Conservatives have listened and, if re-elected, would ensure that no school would lose out in cash terms thanks to an increase in the overall schools budget of £4 billion by 2022 - a real terms increase in every year of the next Parliament”.