East Riding of Yorkshire Revealed as 4th Worst Funded Area for Education

The East Riding of Yorkshire Council is to write to the Prime Minister about the state of education funding in the county.

The East Riding is the 4th worst funded area in the country for education according to the campaign for fairness in education funding.

The council's cabinet member for education - Councillor Victoria Aitken - says the authority needs to maintain pressure on the government.

The F40 group who run the campaign for fairness in education funding have written to the government expressing their concerns.

In a letter to Rishi Sunak, sent last week, the F40 group say:

"We have serious concerns about the growing financial hardship of many schools across the country,
which are struggling to make ends meet during the current cost of living crisis.
We know that in the coming weeks you will be focusing your attention on budgets, and where savings can
be made, and we are urging you to bolster education funding, not to reduce it.
A lack of funding in education during the last ten years has led to a crisis in both schools and SEND, and
we are urging you to reverse this trend and to make education your priority during your tenure as Prime
Minister.
Schools are very good at balancing their books, but that does not mean they have sufficient funding. They
have cut back in all the areas they can to make their budgets stretch and are now struggling to afford a
basic curriculum and the teaching and support staff they require. Some schools and MATs could be
insolvent within two years if this continues.
For some schools, this means being unable to replace key staff when they leave, such as deputy
headteachers; reducing support staff, which includes much needed pastoral and SEND practitioners;
cutting back on activities; being unable to replace materials or repair the building; and relying more heavily
on contributions from already-stretched parents.
The basic funding should be enough to run a school before add-ons for specific school and pupil needs. If
the basic level of funding was enough, there would be no need to have the Minimum Per Pupil Funding
Level (MPPFL), which adversely impacts many small and rural schools – many of which will be struggling
in your own constituency."

The F40 Group included in their letter to the PM a graph showing the disparity in education funding across the country.

In their letter the F40 group say:

"While we appreciate there will always be some variation, it is the extent of the variation that we believe is wrong.

We appreciate Government has recognised the unfairness and is attempting to level up – without reducing the funding provided to the better off schools – however, progress is extremely slow. At the current pace, it will take 15-20 years for the gap in funding to close. That is the education of
more than a whole generation of children at stake.

We do not wish to see money taken away from the better funded schools, but we do wish to see more provided to those that are poorly funded. With the current cost of living crisis, schools are facing greater pressures than ever, and many may struggle to pay their energy costs this year.
The financial burden on the poorer funded schools will be even greater.

We urge Government to act more quickly and make urgent changes to the National Funding Formula to make it fairer, more transparent, and proportionate. Education, as a whole, requires significant additional investment if all children are to reach their potential."

F40 is made up of 42 local authority members from across England including the East Riding. It is campaigning for fair funding in all areas of education, including primary and secondary schools, Early Years, 16-19, and High Needs up to age 25.

Cabinet member for education - Councillor Victoria Aitken - has called for the East Riding council to back up the F40 initiative by sending it's own letter to the Prime Minister. Councillor Aitken says she will also be pressing for a meeting with the PM.