Thank you for logging on to our Fairer Funding Petition. Schools in Devon are significantly less well funded than those in other parts of England. Through the Dedicated Schools Grant (‘DSG’) the Government provides £3,843 (for 2009-10) for each pupil in Devon, which ranks Devon as the 148th lowest of the 151 education authorities in the country. A copy of the 2009-10 rankings are provided below.

 

My view is that DSG funding rightly attempts to accommodate the differences, across authorities, in factors such as relative deprivation and sparsity of population. However I believe that the current formula for its calculation is flawed and significantly biased against rural areas. For example in its failure to recognise the often high costs of school transport and teacher recruitment in rural areas compared with more compact urban centres. Also in its methodology for assessing other key factors such as levels of social deprivation (where, as a county, Devon has the fourth lowest average wage in the country), degree of sparsity (assessed on outdated national census figures) and school sizes (where Devon has around 130 schools with 100 pupils or less, representing some 40% of our schools and resulting in especially high per pupil costs).

As the prospective Conservative MP for Central Devon I want to show the Government the strength of feeling that exists locally on this issue, as well as highlighting to my own party the need for change (which will be particularly important if there is a Conservative majority after the next General Election).

 

Your support in signing this petition is very much appreciated.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Mel Stride

Prospective Conservative MP Central Devon

 

P.S. For further details visit the Fair Funding for Devon Schools website.