Theresa May faces first uprising of election as Tories urge PM to abandon school funding shake-up

Facing an uprising: Prime Minister Theresa May
REUTERS
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Theresa May today faced the first Tory uprising of the General Election with calls to tear up proposed school funding changes, which have sparked fury.

An Evening Standard investigation revealed that senior Conservatives are lining up to urge the Prime Minister to abandon the Government’s school funding reforms before voters go to the polls.

Some of the Tories want a clear promise of a rethink in the party’s election manifesto, which is expected to be published within days.

Graham Brady, who has represented backbench Tory MPs as the powerful chairman of the 1922 Committee wants the Government to signal changes “in the near future”. He told the Standard: “Historically, school funding across the country has been unequal.

“It is quite right that the Government is seeking to address this with a more consistent approach to school funding according to need. But it has been obvious since very soon after the draft formula was published that it could not work in that form.

“These were proposals for consultation — I look forward to seeing revised proposals in the near future.”

Ex-deputy Commons speaker Nigel Evans voiced the concerns of many of his colleagues over the shake-up, which will see thousands of schools lose funding, as thousands of others gain.

Appealing to Mrs May, he said: “When people say there are structural problems with the fairer funding formula as it currently stands, then please do what you are good at which is correcting it. If she can’t correct it, junk it.”

Laurence Robertson — Tewkesbury MP before Parliament was dissolved today — said: “The Government has not quite got there yet. The deprivation factor needs to be better targeted and properly applied.”

Former culture minister Ed Vaizey (Wantage) said: “There are alternative proposals which the Government needs to look at.”

Ex-transport minister Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) said: “Many London MPs including myself have made representations. I hope the manifesto will reflect these representations.”

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswolds) said: “The absolute minimum in the manifesto should be that no school loses out in cash terms.”

Tories have spoken out about school funding plans 
Getty Images

Bob Stewart (Beckenham) said: “I hope there’s something in the manifesto that addresses the problem that is perceived by people in regards to school funding and I’m sure there will be.”

Bob Blackman (Harrow East) urged: “I would obviously like a commitment that we are not going to proceed with this. Not just me but many other colleagues have indicated they cannot support it.” James Gray (North Wiltshire) said: “It needs to be thought through more carefully and brought in at a time when the net cake, the size of total spending [for schools] is increasing.”

Philip Davies (Shipley) argued that the reforms would not have got through the Commons. “I would love to see confirmation that they are not proceeding with it,” he added.

David Burrowes (Enfield Southgate) said: “This election provides the Government with the opportunity — with a fresh mandate — to reset the education budget to meet the current costs of schools.” James Berry (Kingston & Surbiton) said it would be fairer for the “per pupil element” of the funding model to be a higher percentage of the overall formula.

Tania Mathias (Twickenham) agreed that parents are rightly concerned that there needs to be “more money in the pot”. Matthew Offord (Hendon) said the proposals seemed to hit London disproportionately hard. “I would welcome any change in the manifesto which would change this,” he added.

Andrew Rosindell (Romford) said: “There is no doubt that these current proposed changes would have a negative impact on many schools in Romford and the London borough of Havering. Any way to avoid this would be hugely welcomed by myself, schools, parents and pupils.”

Zac Goldsmith was among those who criticised the plans 
Alex Lentati

Tory Richmond Park challenger Zac Goldsmith said: “School funding should always be treated as a core priority generally. But specially we need to see a greater recognition of the mounting costs of SEN provision, which we do well in Richmond and Kingston, but which adds huge pressure to our schools.”

The biggest proportional loss will be in London from the introduction of the National Funding Formula, where 70 per cent of schools stand to lose funding, says London Councils.

The capital’s inner city schools will lose £50 million, according to Department for Education figures. Outer London would see a rise of £30 million for its 1,348 schools. But in many areas headteachers say funds received under the revised formula may be higher but will not offset the rise in staffing costs.

There are concerns further afield. Tory candidate Tom Tugendhat said: “The current proposal leaves schools in Tonbridge, Edenbridge and Malling worse off.” Sarah Wollaston (Totnes), said: “I would support a further review of the funding formula to better reflect rurality.”

The new formula was proposed by Education Secretary Justine Greening in December after years of campaigning by MPs and local authorities for a fairer model. Ministers say it is a fairer way of distributing funds across the country.

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