Cornish Liberal Democrats welcome schools cash boost

Cornwall’s Liberal Democrat MPs have welcomed news of an additional £3.5million for local schools. Today’s announcement from Liberal Democrat Schools Minister David Laws will mean that funding will be allocated to local areas on the basis of the actual characteristics of their pupils and schools, rather than just on the basis of historic levels of spending. A total of £350million will be made available to schools across the country, with priority given to those with high numbers of pupils from deprived backgrounds.

West Cornwall and Isles of Scilly MP Andrew George welcomed the Government’s statement in the House today. He said: “This is a welcome step in the right direction after more than three decades of unfair funding to Cornish schoolchildren. It has left us a legacy of problems and the extra £3.5million (or £54 per pupil on top of current funding) will help give Cornwall the parity we deserve.”

North Cornwall MP Dan Rogerson said: “For decades under successive Conservative and Labour governments Cornish schools have been underfunded, receiving around £350 per pupil less than the national average. This is something that Cornish Liberal Democrats have been fighting for years to change.

“Despite the difficult spending decisions, Liberal Democrats in Coalition Government are now delivering more funding for Cornish schools next year. This is the first big step towards a fair funding formula for schools which is based on need rather than the current system which relies on flawed, historic levels of spending.

“This is on top of extra funding schools are already getting through the Lib Dem ‘Pupil Premium’ and our plan for free school meals for all infant school pupils from September.”

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