Schools: Staffordshire

(asked on 12th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that schools in (a) Stoke-on-Trent, (b) Kidsgrove and (c) Talke receive equitable levels of funding under the National Funding Formula.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 23rd November 2020

The National Funding Formula (NFF), introduced in the 2018/19 financial year, ensures that funding is distributed fairly and consistently based on the characteristics of schools and their pupils. This has replaced the postcode lottery of the past, where funding was based on out-of-date decisions and data.

Stoke-on-Trent local authority is receiving 3.4% more per pupil under the NFF in the 2021-22 financial year, compared to 2020/21. This amounts to £8 million, taking total school funding in the area to £191 million. This is above the national average per-pupil increase.

Local authorities currently remain responsible for determining schools’ final allocations, using the funding they receive through the NFF. The funding that schools in Kidsgrove and Talke receive, from the total available to Stoke-on-Trent, will therefore be determined by the local school funding formula. The Government is committed to move to a ‘hard’ NFF in future, which will determine individual schools’ budgets directly rather than through local formulae set independently by each local authority. We will consult on proposals to that end in due course.

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