Tories to cut £1.3m from Pupil Premium in Surrey
Schools in Surrey are set to lose £1.3m funding for the most disadvantaged pupils in the county following the government's decision to alter the method of calculating Pupil Premium funding.
The pupil premium, which aims to close the attainment gap by providing extra money to pupils eligible for free school meals, was a flagship reform introduced by the Liberal Democrats in government in 2011.
Freedom of information requests by Schools Week suggest that schools in Surrey are set to lose £1,331,250 - one of the biggest cuts in England - following the decision to base the funding on a school's pupil numbers in October rather than January as previously calculated. During this period, the number of pupil premium children in Surrey rose by over 1,000. The news of this drastic cut to Surrey’s finances is in stark contrast to the Government’s decision to allocate £1 billion towards Tory marginal seats in the North.
The impact of Government and Surrey County Council cuts to education in the County has led Elmbridge Liberal Democrats to recently take matters into their own hands to support disadvantaged children and ensure they do not fall further behind. Our Laptop campaign raised over £5000 and provided 40 laptops for families to help with their children’s home learning in lockdown.
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Elmbridge, Monica Harding, said:
"This action shows that the Government are depriving needy kids of what is rightfully theirs - equal access to education regardless of their background. When the attainment gap is widening and children from disadvantaged backgrounds have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, it is shameful that the Tories would seek to cut Surrey's pupil premium money and that children in the County will be among the worst affected in England due to the scale of the cuts we face.
"Liberal Democrats introduced the pupil premium and have had to fight the Tories to keep it properly funded. Given the financial pressure that families are under, this change has real potential to cause harm and will have a direct impact on the quality of education schools can provide for those who are in desperate need of more, not less, support.
"This is a bad move at the worst possible time. The Government must listen to teachers about the reality on the ground, not pull support when it is most needed.”
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education and Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said:
“Once again, disadvantaged school pupils are set to lose out as the Tories prioritise penny pinching over proper support. By moving the goalposts on the entitlement criteria for the “Pupil Premium”, thousands of children whose parents have become unemployed in the last three months will not get the crucial support they need.
"Liberal Democrats introduced the Pupil Premium because we know how vital it is to target support to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and close the gap between them and their peers.
“The Conservative Government must urgently rethink this decision or they run the risk of more disadvantaged children falling behind."
ENDS
Notes to editors
- FOI data: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Pupil-Premium-changes-3.xlsx
- Analysis from Schools Week: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-how-much-your-area-will-lose-from-pupil-premium-funding-change/
- Government allocation of funds to marginal Northern seats: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56281774
- Elmbridge Liberal Democrats Laptop Campaign: https://elmbridgelibdems.org.uk/elmbridge-lib-dem-laptop-appeal-provides-home-learning-support-for-over-30-local-families/