"Somerset's education grant gap worse than ever" - laws

Local Lib Dem MP, David Laws, is today releasing new analysis produced by the House of Commons Library which shows that the gap between Somerset’s Education Grant per pupil and the average over England per pupil is growing. This analysis incorporates the recently announced settlement which covers 2002-03.

David Laws MP said:

“ I was shocked to discover that the gap between the Somerset’s education grant per pupil and the average for England is to widen from 1997/98 to 2002/03. In 1997/98 Somerset Primary School pupils received 6.7% less than the national average from Central Government – a gap of £134. In 2002/03 however the gap is set to grow to a massive 7.8%, or £195 per pupil. It is extremely unfair for Somerset pupils to receive hundreds of pounds less than the rest of the country from central government.

“ Secondary school pupils are also receiving a lot less than the national average. In 1997/98 Somerset secondary school pupils received 6.1% less than the England average, which was a gap of £162 per pupil. By 2002/03 this gap is set to grow to 7.1%, meaning that local secondary school children will receive £231 less than the national average given to local authorities by central government.

“I am very disturbed by this latest evidence showing how the Government is spending less on Somerset pupils than the national average. I supported the local authorities bid to secure adequate funding in the latest negotiating round but more work needs to be done. The root cause of this problem is an unfair formula which is used to decide how much each authority gets. It does not take into account the high school transport costs or the costs of running a large number of small schools – both are higher costs which Somerset has to bear

“I have raised these issues before and will now press the Government to publish their plans to reform the local government grant system and raise the level of investment in education.”

Category: MP Press Releases