MP Caroline Spelman demands fix as ‘Solihull schools miss out on more than £9m’

Solihull schools are still missing out on more than £9 million because of a failure to fix an unfair funding system, an MP Caroline Spelman has warned.

The Meriden MP urged Ministers to press ahead with long-awaited plans to change the way that some schools receive significantly more funding than others simply because of where they are.

She said, Schools in Birmingham and Coventry currently get £1,300 more per pupil than those in Solihull.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mrs Spelman (Conservative) said the unfair nature of the funding system was highlighted by the fact that 7,000 pupils from Birmingham and Coventry actually went to school in Solihull.

It meant that they were funded at the Solihull rate – when the government would provide significantly more cash for the same pupils if they were educated closer to home.

Ministers have been promising for years to change the funding system, and in 2014 the Conservative-led government appeared to make a start when it gave an extra £350 million to schools in low-funded areas.

But there is still no sign of significant change to the overall system.

School funding is supposed to be based partly on need, with schools in poorer areas which may face bigger challenges, getting more money.

But the fact that funding for the same pupils can be cut if their parents choose to send tho a school in a neighbouring local authority suggests that the system doesn’t always work as intended.

Mrs Spelman said funding should follow the pupil, so that Solihull schools received the higher rate if they educated children from Birmingham or Coventry.

She said in the House of Commons: “The parents of 7,000 pupils have chosen to have their children educated in the borough of Solihull, so localism and parent choice exist.

“The only bone of contention for me is that, had the per capita funding those children would have enjoyed were they educated in Birmingham and Coventry, where they reside, followed them, £1,300 more per pupil would have been available.

“My local authority would very much like that anomaly to be addressed.”

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan told MPs: “It is clearly unfair that a school in one part of the country can attract over 50% more funding than an identical school elsewhere. That is why the Conservative party committed to making school funding fairer in our manifesto, and we will come forward with our proposals in due course.”

Read more: http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/solihull-mp-demands-fix-schools-9547696