I have recently been contacted by a number of residents as
part of a campaign asking me to contact the Prime Minister and ask him to
adequately fund nursery schools.
I recognise the concerns raised about funding for nursery
schools. I have met with local nursery schools about this in recent months and
raised it personally with the Secretary of State for Education during his
recent visit to Cornwall.
I welcomed the commitment from the Government of £14 billion
for our schools and was pleased to see that schools in Cornwall which have
traditionally been underfunded by successive governments of all political
parties have received funding boosts.
The Government confirmed schools in Cornwall will receive
4.48% more funding per pupil next year as part of the recent multi-billion
investment in primary and secondary education.
This fulfils the commitment made by the Prime Minister this
year that every secondary school pupil will receive a minimum of £5,000 next
year and every primary school pupil will receive a minimum of £4,000 by 2021-
22.
This funding follows the Prime Minister’s announcement in
August that the budget for schools and high needs would be increased by a total
of over £14 billion over three years, rising to £52.2 billion by 2022-23.
The Chancellor Sajid Javid also announced that providers of
16-19 education such as further education and sixth form colleges will receive
£400 million additional funding to train and teach our young people the skills
they need for well-paid jobs in the modern economy, the Chancellor has
announced. The boost is the single biggest annual increase for the sector since
2010. I have already held a debate in Parliament arguing that some of this money
to used for further education in Mid-Cornwall.
Rest assured that if I am returned as MP following the
upcoming General Election I will continue to do all I can to champion and
highlight the cause of fair funding for education at all stages in Cornwall.
