I have long campaigned to get greater funding for our local schools here in Ponteland and Tynedale. The massive imbalance between urban schools and rural schools is unfair, and now addressed in any event by the pupil premium. So I was delighted to hear the following exchange at Wednesday's PMQs.
Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness) (Con): Yesterday the National Audit Office called for the introduction of a fairer schools funding formula so that it is
“related more closely to their”—
that is, pupils’—
“needs and less affected by where they live.”
Can the Prime Minister confirm from the Dispatch Box that the additional and very welcome £390 million awarded last year as a first step towards a fairer funding system will be incorporated into the baseline for future years?
The Prime Minister: I can say that we will implement the pledges in our manifesto on this issue because we need to make funding fairer across the country. If we look at the figures today, it is clearly unfair that a school in one part of the country can receive over 50% more funding than an identical school in another part of the country. We have already made some progress on this, but I want us to go further.
