I have continued to meet with governors, teachers, parents and staff regarding the National Fairer Funding Formula (NFFF). As you know, I share your concern about the historic injustice that placed Stockport in the lowest funded local authorities, ranked 138 out of 150 nationally, which is why I encouraged so many of you to participate in the fairer funding consultation which aimed to make funding fair for schools and children.
Children with the same needs and expectations currently receive markedly different rates of funding for their school place, and this historical unfairness is something I have continued to raise with the Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening MP, and Department for Education (DfE) officials.
I therefore welcomed the Secretary of State's Statement to the House which announced significant additional investment in schools in England to support the transition to a national funding formula from April 2018. These reforms aim to ensure that every school will be provided with the resources they need to offer every pupil a world-class education.
The additional £1.3 billion spending on schools announced is on top of the commitment the previous Government made at the 2015 Spending Review. Core funding for schools and high needs will rise from nearly £41 billion in 2017-18 to £42.4 billion in 2018-19, and to £43.5 billion in 2019-20. This represents an increase of £2.6 billion between this year and 2019-20, and funding per pupil will now be maintained in real terms for the remaining two years of the Spending Review.
This increased investment in our schools will be funded in full from efficiencies and savings from within the DfE's existing budget, rather than higher taxes or more debt. This of course requires difficult decisions, but I believe it is right to prioritise core schools funding even as the Government continue the vital task of repairing the public finances. By making efficiencies and savings, the proportion of funds allocated to headteachers will be maximised.
The introduction of a national funding formula will begin to ensure we can distribute this funding fairly and transparently, ending the current unfair postcode lottery, and getting resources to those schools who need them most. The additional funding means that, through the formula, the basic amount each pupil attracts will increase in 2018-19 and 2019-20, while continuing to protect funding for pupils with additional needs. In response to the views heard in the consultation, the Government will also ensure every secondary school attracts at least £4,800 per pupil in this period.
Finally, as the Secretary of State has once again made clear, no school will lose any funding as a result of the new formula. In fact, the Government are going to go even further by providing a 0.5% cash increase for every school in 2018-19 and 2019-20, with underfunded schools seeing increases of up to 3% in both years.
