Telford and Wrekin councillors to push for schools funding

The council's cabinet has approved a funding increase of 2.12% per pupil for 2024/25.

Funding for Telford schools is too low for them to meet rising costs, councillors have said.

Telford and Wrekin council's cabinet said they would campaign for "fairer funding" in the coming years.

The cabinet has approved a funding increase of 2.12% per pupil for the 2024/25 financial year but said more was needed.

The Department of Education said school funding in England was set to rise by over £1.8bn compared to 2023/24.

'Not enough'

Cabinet member Paul Watling said schools still faced costs "way above" the funds allocated by the government, due to inflation and supporting children with additional needs.

"We will strongly be lobbying and campaigning for fairer funding for our schools and around the increase in high needs," said Mr Watling, a Labour councillor.

The National Minimum Funding Guarantee allows councils to increase schools' funding in their area - the national average increase is currently 1.9%.

Tim Nelson, a Conservative councillor, agreed the increase for Telford and Wrekin's schools was "not enough", while adding that schools were facing challenges with teacher turnover and falling pupil attendance.

The Department of Education originally planned to raise funding by 2.7% per pupil in England in 2024/25, but this was reduced to 1.9% after it underestimated the number of pupils.

At last week's council cabinet meeting, Mr Watling said the miscalculation had resulted in a drop in funding equal to £1.47m for local schools.

This equated to £14,000 less for an average primary school and £59,000 less for an average secondary school, he added.

"Nationally, core school funding will reach the highest level in history, in real terms per pupil, by 2024-25, totalling £59.6 billion," a Department for Education spokesperson said.