Petitions
Debate between Caroline Spelman and Graham Stuart(8 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness) (Con)
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for a verbosity that one does not usually associate with you. I am also grateful to colleagues who have filled in the time after this unexpected collapse of business.
I am grateful for the time we have been given to present petitions calling for fair school funding from more than 100 constituencies right across England and the House. The current funding system is arbitrary and unfair. It penalises urban and rural alike, affecting both Labour and Conservative constituencies. We welcome the announcement of the new national funding formula for schools that the Chancellor mentioned in the comprehensive spending review last week, and we will continue, across the House, to make the case for reform, as the Government consult on their proposals. I will read out the full text of the petition, but, as you have said, Madam Deputy Speaker, other Members need not do so.
In addition to presenting a petition on behalf of 2,287 people in Beverley and Holderness, I am also presenting petitions from the constituencies of Aylesbury, Bethnal Green and Bow, Buckingham, Central Devon, Chelsea and Fulham, East Devon, Forest of Dean, Grantham and Stamford, Haltemprice and Howden, Kingston upon Hull North, Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle, Ipswich, Lewisham, Deptford, Loughborough, Meon Valley, New Forest West, Newton Abbot, Oxford East, Penrith and The Border, South Holland and The Deepings, North Swindon, South Swindon, Tatton, Thornbury and Yate, Wantage, West Suffolk, Wimbledon and York Central. In addition, I am presenting a petition on behalf of the shadow Home Secretary, the right hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham), who gave me his petition earlier. He was unable to be here, but would have liked to have been. I thank all those who have signed from across the country.
The petition states:
The petition of residents of Beverley and Holderness,
Declares that the petitioners believe the existing school funding model in England is arbitrary and unfair; further declares that the ten best funded areas of England have on average received grants of £6,300 per pupil this year, compared to an average of £4,200 per pupil in the ten most poorly funded areas of England; and further declares that the petitioners welcome the Government’s commitment to introduce fairer school funding.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons supports the earliest possible introduction of a new National Funding Formula for schools in England.
And the petitioners remain, etc.
[P001559]
Mrs Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con)
I rise to present a petition on behalf of 649 of my constituents in Meriden in the same terms as presented by my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness. Madam Deputy Speaker, may we express our thanks through you to the Clerk of Public Petitions in the Journal Office of the House of Commons?
The Petition of the residents of Meriden.
[P001554]
School Funding Model
Debate between Caroline Spelman and Graham Stuart(8 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness) (Con)
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for a verbosity that one does not usually associate with you. I am also grateful to colleagues who have filled in the time after this unexpected collapse of business.
I am grateful for the time we have been given to present petitions calling for fair school funding from more than 100 constituencies right across England and the House. The current funding system is arbitrary and unfair. It penalises urban and rural alike, affecting both Labour and Conservative constituencies. We welcome the announcement of the new national funding formula for schools that the Chancellor mentioned in the comprehensive spending review last week, and we will continue, across the House, to make the case for reform, as the Government consult on their proposals. I will read out the full text of the petition, but, as you have said, Madam Deputy Speaker, other Members need not do so.
In addition to presenting a petition on behalf of 2,287 people in Beverley and Holderness, I am also presenting petitions from the constituencies of Aylesbury, Bethnal Green and Bow, Buckingham, Central Devon, Chelsea and Fulham, East Devon, Forest of Dean, Grantham and Stamford, Haltemprice and Howden, Kingston upon Hull North, Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle, Ipswich, Lewisham, Deptford, Loughborough, Meon Valley, New Forest West, Newton Abbot, Oxford East, Penrith and The Border, South Holland and The Deepings, North Swindon, South Swindon, Tatton, Thornbury and Yate, Wantage, West Suffolk, Wimbledon and York Central. In addition, I am presenting a petition on behalf of the shadow Home Secretary, the right hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham), who gave me his petition earlier. He was unable to be here, but would have liked to have been. I thank all those who have signed from across the country.
The petition states:
The petition of residents of Beverley and Holderness,
Declares that the petitioners believe the existing school funding model in England is arbitrary and unfair; further declares that the ten best funded areas of England have on average received grants of £6,300 per pupil this year, compared to an average of £4,200 per pupil in the ten most poorly funded areas of England; and further declares that the petitioners welcome the Government’s commitment to introduce fairer school funding.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons supports the earliest possible introduction of a new National Funding Formula for schools in England.
And the petitioners remain, etc.
[P001559]
Mrs Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con)
I rise to present a petition on behalf of 649 of my constituents in Meriden in the same terms as presented by my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness. Madam Deputy Speaker, may we express our thanks through you to the Clerk of Public Petitions in the Journal Office of the House of Commons?
The Petition of the residents of Meriden.
[P001554]
School Funding
Debate between Caroline Spelman and Graham Stuart(8 years, 5 months ago)
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Graham Stuart
My hon. Friend is right. Of course it is difficult at a time of flat cash and increasing financial strain to carry out redistribution, but it is when cash is flat, and no additional above-inflation increase is coming, that the discrepancy between areas becomes more important. Although it is politically more challenging to redistribute when there is a tight cash settlement—that is why it is so important to show the weight of opinion in the House—morally and educationally it is more important to bring that about. That is why we have pushed so hard, and I am grateful that the Government have listened and are prepared to seize the nettle.
Mrs Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con)
My hon. Friend is right; there is not only rural-urban disparity, but urban-urban disparity. Two wards can be side by side, with identical socio-economic profiles, but have a big difference in funding. The fair funding situation can be aggravated if a pupil moves from one ward across the border into the identical ward, because they do not bring the additional money with them. Unlike in health, the money—apart from the pupil premium—does not follow the pupil.
Graham Stuart
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. That, too, has been a feature of the system for a long time. It is, in a way, a separate issue. If a child from Hull, perhaps from a deprived area, moves to a school in my constituency, which neighbours Hull, rightly or wrongly the additional funding given for that child will not follow the pupil who crosses the border to a school perhaps only a quarter of a mile away—for example, in Bilton on the edge of Hull in my constituency. That, too, is an indefensible feature of the system.