Over the last few months I have worked hand-in-hand with all primary and secondary schools in South Cambs to facilitate a mass response, from parents, teachers, carers and governors to the Government's Fairer Funding consultation. This included letters to the Education Secretary, petitions to the Government and the creation of a “how to” guide to help parents navigate and respond to the technically complex consultation questions. You can read more about my campaign here:
https://www.heidisouthcambs.co.uk/national-funding-formula
I am certain this extensive lobbying resulted in the Government’s £4billion commitment in the manifesto to ensure no school loses out as a consequence of any new formula. Although this is great news I remain concerned that the formula itself is not fit for purpose and will not boost our schools' funding sufficiently in the future.
As soon as I read the manifesto, I contacted the Secretary of State to seek reassurances that we would still review the intricacies of the formula itself as the £4billion cash boost alone would not fix South Cambs schools' funding in the long term.
The Secretary of State confirmed to me that the funding formula was STILL in the process of being consulted on when the general election was called. She further confirmed that the formula review will resume after the election. I am greatly reassured by this, so if re-elected on 9 June, I will pick up exactly where I left off - fighting to improve the formula.
It is important to remember the funding formula is not set in stone as it was mid review. Any material that suggests schools will see a cut is simply wrong. Indeed the manifesto clearly states:
“We will make sure that no school has its budget cut as a result of the new formula.”
You can read the manifesto in full by following this link here:
https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/manifesto2017/Manifesto2017.pdf