The new Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening, reconfirmed in the House of Commons on Thursday that a New Funding Formula for Schools ("Fair Funding") would be introduced as soon as possible.
The new formula is incredibly important as, once introduced, it is likely to remain in place for decades to come. Ministers have already conducted one half of the consultation process and intend to come back to consult on the likely impact of the new funding formula on schools.
Given the complexity of the task the Secretary of State has announced that rather than phasing in the formula starting from 2017 this will be introduced from 2018.
I attended the Commons statement and welcomed the reconfirmation of the New Funding Formula. However I immediately asked the Secretary of State that urgent consideration be given to the provision of transitional funding to help tide over West Sussex schools until the new formula is introduced.
The Secretary of State immediately responded, saying that she would look into adopting a “sensible approach” to the 2017-2018 period.
Alongside fellow West Sussex MPs I have written to Justine Greening urging that such transitional funding, aimed at helping West Sussex which for many years has been the worst funded county on a per pupil basis, is introduced.
Clip: http://parliamentlive.tv/…/b4a6b3fd-eef8-4349-b2a2-b2afac08…