David Warburton, MP for Somerton and Frome, has welcomed the announcement of the second stage of the government’s consultation on proposed national funding formula which shows Somerset will receive the second-highest percentage increase in funding in the country.
Based on a calculation of the percentage change in funding in the first year of the NFF (National Funding Formula) in 2018/19, Somerset is due to gain 2.4% – the second highest percentage rise in the entire country. The country’s highest level of funding awarded is Derby at 2.7%. B&NES is at 2.2%.
David Warburton MP said: “This is truly excellent news for Somerset – to receive the second highest level of funding increase in the country for our schools will be life-changing for schoolchildren across the county.
“It’s been a long campaign and we’ve recently seen some appalling scare-stories suggesting that the Government was going to cut funding to Somerset schools, using figures which were literally just invented. So I’m delighted that, now we have the real figures, we can see that schools across the south west will get a great new deal and a better chance to grow and prosper.”
He continued, “Some schools in my constituency will receive as much as a 12% increase, so after all the campaigning on this from rural MPs and others, this is without doubt a huge victory for Somerset and is great news on which to begin 2017.”