Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Department for Education

Oral Answers to Questions

Nusrat Ghani Excerpts
Monday 6th February 2017

(7 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Nick Gibb Portrait Mr Gibb
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The hon. Lady will have looked at the consultation document and seen that a very high proportion of the national funding formula is allocated on the basis of disadvantage—it is based on pupils’ low prior attainment and things such as English as an additional language. The difference is that we are basing the national funding formula on today’s data, not the data as they were in 2005. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has said, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put in place something that the Labour party neglected to do: a fair national funding formula that is based on a clear set of factors and principles, and on up-to-date data.

Nusrat Ghani Portrait Nusrat Ghani (Wealden) (Con)
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In East Sussex, funding per pupil is £193 lower than the national average. What more can be done for my schools in Wealden, which are both small and rural?

Nick Gibb Portrait Mr Gibb
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We have ensured that sparsity is an important factor in the national funding formula and we are increasing funding for the sparsity element from £15 million to £27 million across the system. East Sussex sees an increase in its funding overall and my hon. Friend should welcome this much fairer system. It is fairer to schools in East Sussex and right across the country.