After years of campaigning by Anne Marie Morris MP and the F40 Group, it was announced in the House of Commons on 13 March that schools in sparsely populated areas will receive more funding from 2015. Devon is currently one of the worst funded local authorities in the country, but today’s announcement by Education Minister David Laws will see an additional £16.2 million spent on pupils in the county.
Devon will be one of the top 5 gainers around the country, with an additional £189 being spent per pupil, taking the figure up to £4,345, an increase of 4.5%. Today’s announcement comes after years of campaigning by the F40 group, supported by a group of MPs including Anne Marie Morris, MP for Newton Abbot.
Speaking after the announcement, Anne Marie said: “Our schools in Devon have been underfunded for too long. I am delighted that it is this Government who have taken our concerns and arguments on board and have begun to level the playing field for pupils in Devon.”
“This has been an issue I have been campaigning on since before I was elected in 2010, and while today’s announcement is just the beginning it is vindication of all the hard work that has gone on to make sure that our children are not left behind.
“An additional £189 per pupil has the potential to pay for extra teachers and class room assistants in schools and will go a long way to addressing the historic unfairness which existed in the system that this Government inherited in 2010.”