School Funding

Michael Tomlinson Excerpts

Thursday 5th November 2015 Westminster Hall

[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

I, too, congratulate the right hon. Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw) and my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart) on securing this debate. Like others, I am a veteran of these debates—we had one in April 2012 and another in April 2014—and they can be surreal, because we all agree that something must be done. The Opposition did not particularly agree in the 2012 debate but, to be fair, by 2014 they did. The Ministers who responded to those debates also agreed that something had to be done, that we could not go on like this and that there had to be a national formula, yet the months go by.

Just to validate myself, Warrington is 144th in the league table, having declined further once the £390 million was given out under another opaque mechanism towards the end of the last Parliament. I want to say something a little different from other Members. Let me be clear: yes, we have £2,000 less per pupil than other areas, but I would not mind that if I could point my schools in Warrington to an audit trail explaining why it was necessary. Perhaps there is less deprivation. Perhaps sparsity or the age profiles are different. Perhaps there are various criteria. However, that is not the case. The only reason I can give is, “It’s always been like that, and we haven’t got round to fixing it.”

[Sir David Amess in the Chair]

I said in the April 2012 debate, and I think perhaps the April 2014 debate as well, that a new Government came in bristling with talent and reforming zeal, agreeing that the situation was wrong, yet the problem was somehow too difficult, because there had to be losers. That is the crux of it: the Government were concerned that the losers would shout more than the winners. Morally, that is not a good position. We are talking about the life chances of children in our constituencies.

[Michael Tomlinson (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (Con)]

Speaking of life chances of children, my hon. Friend has the pleasure of being the Member of Parliament representing my nephew and niece. I encourage him to fight vigorously not only for them—his constituents—but for the rest of us who suffer without a fairer funding formula.

[David Mowat]

We are doing our best for my hon. Friend’s nephew and niece.

--- Later in debate ---

[Michael Tomlinson (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir David. I echo other hon. Members in paying tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart) and the right hon. Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw) for securing this debate. It is a pleasure to follow so many colleagues and other hon. Members making the case so clearly for a fairer funding formula.

I come from a family of teachers, I married into a family of teachers and some have said that I ran away from teaching as a profession. I am a governor at my local school, and I pay tribute to all the hard work our teachers in Dorset and Poole put in day in, day out. However, our schools are being let down by the current funding formula. My constituency can compete with those of other hon. Members, because Dorset is in the lowest 11 authorities for funding per pupil, securing just £4,239. Poole fares even worse, as the second worst funded—not a statistic I am proud of—receiving only £4,167. It is those statistics and facts that bring me here to argue on behalf of schools in my constituency.

As others have said, such statistics suggest that the current funding formula is beyond its sell-by date. More than that, it appears to have no rationale. My hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) mentioned his exhibit A, and it shows that there is no historic rhyme or reason to the fact that some schools in Poole get the second-lowest funding, while other schools across the country get much more. Over the years, that has created an unfair situation, which does not serve our schools or our children in Poole and Dorset. There is not the level playing field there should be.

Other hon. Members have mentioned that the funding formula means there is a large disparity between schools across the country with similar characteristics, which are receiving very different amounts.

[Mr Gyimah]

indicated assent.

[Michael Tomlinson]

I am pleased to see the Minister nodding in agreement.

The F40 campaign group, of which I am a member, has set out an alternative formula, which I welcome. The formula would help my constituency by reducing the funding gap from £4,000 to just over £3,000. I could quote more facts and figures, as other hon. Members have done. Behind the numbers, however, are real individuals—real families, children and teachers—and those figures will make a difference in their lives and in their schools. In my constituency, the F40 proposals would see schools get an extra £240 per pupil—an increase of just under 5%, which is welcome. Schools in Poole would receive an extra £116—an increase of just under 3%, which is also welcome. However, I sound a note of caution: under the formula, schools in Poole would still be among the worst funded, although the changes would help to start narrowing the gap.

[Victoria Atkins]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the campaign is asking not for more money from the Treasury, but simply for a reallocation, so that the money that is already being spent is spent more fairly?

[Michael Tomlinson]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point. It is right that the formula is about beginning to close the gap. That is all I am fighting for today.

I am pleased that the Government have recognised the issue’s importance. I am also pleased to have fought the election on a manifesto that set out so clearly the need for a fairer funding formula. Similarly, I was pleased by the responses of the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister to my questions in the House. I was pleased not just because they were in answer to my questions, but because they were encouraging.

Other hon. Members have mentioned the £390 million that was granted in 2014-15 and that is now embedded in future years. I welcome that, but I see it as a down payment—a first step—rather than the finished article.

Let me turn for a moment to wider funding issues, because the motion is that

“this House has considered funding for schools”

generally. Montacute school in my constituency is, as the Minister may know, a special academy for children with severe and multiple learning difficulties and special needs. Recently, it received a very welcome £5 million to completely restructure what was a rather dilapidated building that was falling down, and I was delighted to be present at the opening of the new building. However, the funding included no additional money for the inside—the fixtures and fittings, which are the very things that are required to make a school really a school.

Local families have clubbed together as part of Monty’s fund, and they have raised £500,000 to date. However, more is required, and I urge the Minister to consider that as a particular request. I will be making a small difference by dressing up as Father Christmas and entering the great Santa fun run with members of Wimborne rotary club. I invite the Minister to join me. Where better to run and raise money for a good cause than round Badbury Rings?

[Kevin Foster]

Does my hon. Friend agree that although it is great to see such charitable work, people would be more encouraged to take part if they saw a fair funding formula in place?

[Michael Tomlinson]

My hon. Friend is right that it is all well and good raising money in small ways like this, but we are actually arguing for a fairer funding formula, so let me return to that.

Few people in the Chamber, and few outside it, have questioned the logic of, or the need for, a fairer funding formula. The inequality is clear to see, and I urge the Minister, as other Members have done, to set out a timetable. We need substantive change, and we need it to put the needs of our children first and foremost.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Gyimah]

I share and understand my hon. Friend’s need for urgency, but the first thing is to build consensus for reform. It is good that the National Association of Head Teachers supports reform; it recently said:

“The level of unfairness in school funding has been staggering”,

and that it welcomes the move towards fairer funding. That is echoed by the Association of School and College Leaders, which says that reform is

“long overdue and very welcome.”

Parents know that education should not be a postcode lottery. There is a lot of work to do, and I would like to see the Opposition join the NAHT, and all the other organisations calling for reform, in supporting our building of consensus for what would be a historic achievement for our schools and for constructing an excellent education system.

[Michael Tomlinson]

I am grateful to the Minister for his responses so far. However, if he cannot commit to a specific date, may I invite him to at least set out a timetable allowing our local education authorities to plan well in advance, which will help our schools?

[Mr Gyimah]

My hon. Friend tempts me to pre-empt our spending review; that would not be appropriate for a junior Minister, and would not be welcomed by the Chancellor. I will not set out a timetable, but I have said that we will not only seek to build consensus and to consult widely, but support schools through the transition and encourage efficiency to get the most out of fairer funding.

As well as reforming the funding system, we will push schools to be more efficient in their spending. In this difficult financial climate, it is even more important that schools are relentless in their drive to squeeze the best value for their students out of every pound that they receive.