Weston’s MP John Penrose has welcomed the Government’s promise of fairer school funding made in yesterday’s spng review, after many years campaigning for a better deal for Weston’s schools.
George Osborne announced a fairer national funding formula for schools by 2015-16, to iron out huge historical differences in the amount that’s spent on each pupil’s education in similar schools across the country. John Penrose has hailed this as a victory in his four year campaign to reduce local inequalities; when he began pushing the issue back in 2009 (website archive link below) the core funding (before pupil premium) in Weston was £138 a year less per pupil than in neighbouring Bath and North East Somerset, and £641 a year less per pupil than Bristol.
Commenting on the announcements John Penrose said: “This is tremendously important news for local students, and for their teachers and their families too. For years we’ve been given less education cash than other schools and colleges teaching the same subjects to similar students just up the road in Bristol or Bath. That can’t be right, so I’m delighted we’re making the system a whole lot fairer. I’ve had huge support for this campaign, from parents and teachers alike over many years, and I’d like to thank everyone for their support. It just shows that persistence pays and that, if your cause is just, they’ve got to listen in the end.”
Link to John’s website archive showing early stages of John’s campaign for fairer funding is: http://www.johnpenrose.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1637%3Aextra-cash-for-local-schools-a-welcome-christmas-present-says-mp&catid=62%3Aff4s-campaign&Itemid=110