Oral Answers to Questions

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Monday 29th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Phil Wilson (Sedgefield) (Lab)]

10. What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of education funding in England.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

14. What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of education funding in England.

[Grahame Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

24. What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of education funding in England.

--- Later in debate ---

[Damian Hinds]

It is, of course, exceptionally important for schools to be properly resourced. In the Darlington local authority area, where the typical primary class size is 27, the average funding is £104,000, while in the Durham local authority area— which the hon. Gentleman mentioned—where the class size is slightly smaller at 25, the funding is a shade higher at £105,000. Of course it is right that, through the national funding formula, we ensure that schools are properly resourced for the education that they will need to deliver.

[Rushanara Ali]

Since 2015 schools in Tower Hamlets have lost out on some £56 million—of which £7.7 million is for children with special needs—despite having the highest child poverty rate in the country. When will the Secretary of State stand up to the Chancellor and the Prime Minister, and seek the additional funding that is so much needed for our children around the country?

[Damian Hinds]

As my right hon. Friend the Minister for School Standards said earlier, we will of course put forward a strong case for education, on which so much else depends in both our society and our economy. The hon. Lady mentioned her constituency. That is an area of relatively high school funding per pupil, and specifically on high needs. I recognise the additional pressures on the high-needs budget, but £1.4 million of the additional money that we were able to secure for high needs will go to her constituents over two years.