Rethink on shake-up of funding for schools
The Government has agreed to rethink national school funding reforms after a meeting with Staffordshire education bosses who had voiced fears the moves would put some schools under threat, it was revealed today.
Changes to the Dedicated Schools Grant means all schools, no matter how big or small, will from 2013 receive the same lump sum.
The radical changes caused major concern in Staffordshire, with fears some smaller schools could close.
As a result, a meeting was held between county councillors and MPs, and the Minister for Schools David Laws earlier this month.
Ministers have now pledged to review the arrangements to assess the impact of the changes.
Education bosses in Staffordshire today welcomed the Government rethink but warned the measures still do not go far enough.
County Councillor Ian Parry, cabinet member for education, said: "We've managed to get this concession from Government as a direct result of pushing them to reconsider their reforms and the impact they would have on our schools."
The Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed that there will be protection arrangements in place beyond 2014 through the Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG) for schools.
This should protect against unmanageable falls in school budgets.
Previously the guarantee was only going to be in place for two years, meaning that schools could only see a 1.5 per cent reduction in their funding per pupil before being faced with potentially large reductions from 2015.
But Councillor Parry added: "I still urge the key decision makers to look at the bigger picture on this. Extending the funding guarantee is putting a sticking plaster solution on the problem – we need Government to look at all the issues."
