This week, MP Neil Carmichael discusses funding for schools

IN THE last Parliament, there was a strong campaign fighting for fairer funding of schools.

The essential problem has been and, alas, still remains the disparity of pupil funding between different local authorities. The scale of the disparity was amply illustrated last week in the House of Commons,when attention was drawn to a comparison between a primary school in Chalford with £4,914 per pupil and a primary school in Tower Hamlets where equivalent funding is £7,630.

The reasons for such disparities are complex, but most revolve around local government funding formulae aimed towards tackling deprivation as assessed through taking a number of factors into account, but often weighted in favour of urban areas. This is why a London borough like Tower Hamlets is so much better funded than Gloucestershire.

To move towards a fairer system, the government at the end of the last Parliament provided substantial funds of £390 million to the most deserving authorities including Gloucestershire. This will be repeated for 2015-16.

Since then, there has been a further pledge by government to properly tackle the issue. This has been spurred on by many factors, not least the observation by the National Audit Office that pupil premium – a powerful mechanism for dealing with deprivation – would be even more effective if fairer funding of all schools was in place. An example to prove this point is the difference between Solihull and Birmingham, where pupil premium of some £900 per year added to Solihull’s normal pupil allocation still means a neighbouring pupil in Birmingham without pupil premium has a higher overall funding level.

The weight of argument for fundamental reform of pupil funding is now greater than ever. The government is taking steps to improve the system and it will be the subject of extensive consultation. The F40 Group, which represents the lowest per funded education authorities, will keep applying pressure.

The education select committee is towill also now play its part by holding a full-scale inquiry into how a new mechanism can be constructed. The terms of the inquiry will be announced shortly and submissions of evidence and ideas will be welcomed.