School levelling up cash welcomed by Walsall Council leader

Walsall has been named as one of the 55 Education Investment Areas across England in the Government Levelling Up white paper published on Wednesday.

Unveiling the plans, Whitehall said these areas are where school outcomes are weakest with promises of support over the next decade.

The Department for Education said it will offer retention payments to help keep the best teachers in highest priority subjects while the areas will also be locations for specialist sixth form free schools.

One of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ’12 missions’ to level up are for 90 per cent of of children leaving primary school to reach an expected standard in reading, writing and maths by 2030. In 2019, 65 per cent met all three standards.

Walsall Council leader Mike Bird said: “We never say no to money being offered and this is no exception.

“I think there is an always an opportunity for investment in education. If you look over history, the education of Walsall children, we’ve always come lower down the league tables than we’d like.

“So, we welcome that. We haven’t seen the fine detail yet but when we do we will be looking to invest that as quickly as possible to sees the end result of higher educational attainment.”

Councillor Bird added the town will also benefit from the revival of the Wolverhampton to Walsall corridor regeneration scheme.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: “This white paper sets out our blueprint for putting skills, schools and families at the heart of levelling up.

“It focuses on putting great schools in every part of the country, training that sets you up for success in a high-skilled, well-paid career and ensuring no one misses out on opportunities simply because of where they live or their family background.

“Raising our expectations and aspirations for children, as well as creating a high-skilled workforce, will end the brain drain that sees too many people leaving communities in order to succeed.”

But Lisa Nandy, Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, criticised the Government white paper, saying it didn’t go far enough.

She said: “The Government’s levelling up white paper has left communities up and down the country completely short-changed once again.

“Beyond the slogans, this government lacks ambition for our places and our people — people who know what rebuilding local economies should look like but need support from their government to achieve it.

“This pattern of hollow promises from successive Tory governments has left nearly every place in the country worse-off.”