Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of schools that may be in deficit by 2020 as a result of changes to the schools funding formula.

It is important that school funding is allocated fairly and transparently according to need. The proposed national funding formula will put an end to the unfair arrangements whereby pupils who live in one local area attract more funding than pupils, with the same characteristics, who live in another area. In the first stage of the consultation we set out the principles behind the formula, and the factors we propose to include. We will set out further details in the second stage of the consultation which will launch later this year.