Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will commission a technical review of the indicators of deprivation used to decide formulae for funding for (a) schools and (b) free school meals.

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds often need extra support at school to achieve as well as their peers. That is why, in addition to providing £2.5 billion this year through the pupil premium - which we have protected at current rates for the duration of the parliament - we also require local authorities to target funding for deprived pupils through their local formula.

Under current arrangements local authorities can choose between a pupil-level measure of disadvantage (pupils eligible for free school meals or eligible at any point in the previous 6 years) or an area-level measure of disadvantage (the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index), or a combination. We are aware that the update to the area-level deprivation data last year led to some areas changing their local formulae to mitigate the impact on deprivation funding for their schools.

We recently launched the first stage of the consultation on our plans to introduce a national funding formula for schools from 2017. Our proposals would mean schools’ funding is matched fairly and transparently to their needs and their pupils’ characteristics. Through the consultation process we are seeking views on the best way to target funding for disadvantaged pupils to support them to achieve to the best of their ability.