During a meeting with Secretary of State for Education Damian Hinds, East Devon MP Sir Hugo Swire was given assurances over funding for schools

A funding boost in this year’s education budget is set to benefit East Devon schools, MP Sir Hugo Swire has been told.

The Secretary of State for Education Damian Hinds told the East Devon MP that the core schools budget is set to rise to £43.5 billion for 2019-20, meaning ‘more money than ever’ is going into education.

During a meeting earlier this week, Sir Hugo also pressed the secretary of state to use the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review to give teachers a financial boost.

This follows a meeting at Exmouth Community College between Sir Hugo and East Devon head teachers who told the MP about the cuts they have had to make due to a funding shortfall compared to the national average.

Sir Hugo said: “The head teachers highlighted some of the difficult decisions they have had to make over staff numbers, capital expenditure, and curriculum options.

“They expressed concern that this may threaten the level of support they can provide for their students over the coming academic years.

“I shall of course continue to campaign for fairer funding for Devon’s schools.

“At a debate in Parliament earlier this month, I argued that every child in a Devon school still receives £304 less than the national average, meaning that Devon misses out on £27 million per year.

“While I am pleased that the new National Funding Formula has gone some way to address the disparity between inner cities and shire counties that we inherited from the previous Labour government, it does not go far enough.

“I pressed the Secretary of State to consider giving our teachers a significant boost by providing further financial support through the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.

“I hope we can look forward to a good news announcement soon.”