Headteachers demand to know why their pupils are 'worth less' as South Staffordshire schools hit by funding cuts

The South Staffordshire District Headteachers forum have penned a plea to local MPs to draw attention to the swingeing cuts to funding and increased costs.

According to the group, pupils in South Staffordshire are funded as much as £2,000 less per head than in some urban areas.

The letter to MPs Gavin Williamson and Jeremy Lefroy highlights an increase to National Insurance contributions and an increase in pension contributions with no extra funding from central government, an agreed one per cent pay rise for staff with no additional government funding, a change to sixth form funding formula that means less cash coming in for each six form student and a cut of 1.5 per cent to the delegated funding coming into schools from local authority as key issues that are leaving schools in the area counting the cost.

It also mentions that several additional grants have been cut that schools were previously in receipt of.

In 2017/18, a fairer funding formula is set to come into play and is expected to benefit South Staffordshire, but headteachers say there is a big issue short term.

Part of the letter reads: "It is with deep regret that the Headteachers of South Staffordshire write to you to outline the alarming financial difficulties that we are all facing and the very damaging impact this could have on the future of our young people.

"The last number of years has been an incredibly difficult period but we have all worked exceptionally hard at minimising the impact of our shrinking budgets. This year we, once again, find ourselves in the awful position of facing even deeper cuts to our funding."

"We write to you to raise awareness of the very real financial difficulties we are all facing, to encourage our MPs to invest further time and effort in securing a fairer funding model for our children and to encourage parents to be vocal in their support of us on this issue."

Alun Harding, headteacher at Codsall Community High School, said: "We all feel exactly the same about the funding situation for school in South Staffordshire. We understand the education budget was left from direct cuts, but there are other factors that come into play that people don't know about that affect school budgets which can make hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of difference.

"The knock-on effect of the changes is that there will be less for the children. Staffing costs will mean we have to employ less teachers so class sizes will get bigger.

"You can be as determined to look for ways to save money as you like, but the impact the changes will have will be massive.

"We want fairer funding for our students, we don't understand why children in our area are worth less than in a more urban area like Wolverhampton or Birmingham. We've got to keep working to try and secure it and make people aware of the challenges we are facing."

Gavin Williamson MP said: "For far too long we had a ridiculous system where schools in South Staffordshire were receiving a lot less than areas like Wolverhampton. It's quite frankly disgusting, considering it often costs more money for children in rural areas than it does in urban areas when you consider things like transport.

"In the summer last year we did a petition which had 1,700 signatures demanding action to address the problem and get a fairer funding system for children in South Staffordshire.

"I want children in schools in my constituency to get the funding they deserve, and I will keep putting pressure on government for it."

Jeremy Lefroy MP added: "I'm obviously very concerned about it. I've been working together with Gavin on this.

"The fairer funding formula will come into force in the 2017/8 academic year, which will benefit South Staffordshire school greatly.

"But there is a big problem short term. Changes were made across the country where some areas got a bigger increase than others in funding.

"I've written to the Department of Education to see what can be done to put us on a more level playing field."