Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire launched a petition across the constituency in support of a new national funding formula to deliver a fairer deal for local children, beginning his campaign in Wombourne last week.
Gavin has been pushing for a fairer funding formula for schools in South Staffordshire since his election in 2010.
Following a major Parliamentary briefing to make the case for fairer school funding to the Minister, Gavin has been appointed a patron of the campaign for Fair School Funding, which is being run together with the cross-party f40 Group of local authorities.
At the Parliamentary, officials from the f40 Group set out the case for a fairer school funding settlement in detail, highlighting research showing that the ten best funded areas on average received grants of £6,300 per pupil this year, compared with an average of just £4,200 per pupil in the ten most poorly funded areas. Pupils in South Staffordshire currently receive £515.75 less than a pupil in Wolverhampton.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education and Childcare, Sam Gyimah MP, told the meeting that the Government is determined to deliver its manifesto promise to create a fairer school funding settlement and encouraged f40 MPs to make the case for change.
Gavin said: “I am pleased to have become a patron of the Fair School Funding campaign. The unfair funding system for schools has seen children from South Staffordshire lose out for far too long.
“I have launched a petition across South Staffordshire this summer and will present it in Parliament later in the year together with MPs from up and down the country. We need to bring home to ministers that parents across South Staffordshire want a fair deal for their children, based on need rather than where they happen to live. I hope as many local people as possible will sign the petition so that our voice can be heard loud and clear.”
“It is disgraceful that schools in South Staffordshire receive less funding per pupil than schools in neighbouring areas like Wolverhampton, Walsall and Dudley. In my view this lacks rationale and is blatantly unfair. I support schools with a higher number of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds gaining additional funding to help bridge the attainment gap, but this should not be done merely on the basis of postcode.”
PLEASE FIND A COPY OF THE PETITION BELOW
