(a) Motion received from Cllr C R Musgrave:
"This Council
urges the Secretary of State for Education to urgently address the
unfair funding arrangements of Devon Schools and to implement a
"new and fairer national funding formula" as promised in the
Chancellor's 2015 Autumn Spending Review.
The proposals for the latest national funding settlement provide a
worsening situation for our schools and colleges in West Devon.
This is particularly affected by rising expenditure demands,
noticeably staffing costs, arising from the latest national policy
decisions.
The council calls on the Secretary of State to address the current
allocation of education funding to provide a fairer national
allocation and to recognise the general inadequacy of funding of
our local schools.”
Minutes:
CM 53
It was moved by Cllr C R Musgrave and seconded by Cllr T G Pearce that:
"This Council urges the Secretary of State for Education to urgently address the unfair funding arrangements of Devon Schools and to implement a "new and fairer national funding formula" as promised in the Chancellor's 2015 Autumn Spending Review.
The proposals for the latest national funding settlement provide a worsening situation for our schools and colleges in West Devon. This is particularly affected by rising expenditure demands, noticeably staffing costs, arising from the latest national policy decisions.
The council calls on the Secretary of State to address the current allocation of education funding to provide a fairer national allocation and to recognise the general inadequacy of funding of our local schools.”
In introducing the motion, the proposer highlighted that:
- all Members had been in receipt of correspondence on this matter from the Principals of Okehampton and Tavistock Colleges; and
- the funding arrangements were particularly unfair to Devon and the West Devon Borough area.
In the ensuing debate, reference was made to:
(a) the views of the Devon County Council (DCC) lead Member for Children, Schools and Skills. In welcoming the motion, the lead Member highlighted that DCC had prepared a Parliamentary Briefing Note that outlined the likely impact of the proposals. The Member proceeded to agree to circulate the Briefing Note to officers to ensure that it was taken into account during the drafting of the letter to the Secretary of State. In re-emphasising the importance of the motion, the Member stated that schools in Devon were £290 per child worse off than the national average. The Member also requested that the proposer and seconder consider including the following addition in their motion:
‘The Council also asks the Schools Minister to look again at the unfair funding proposals.’
The proposer and seconder confirmed their willingness to accept this addition and it was therefore included in the substantive motion;
(b) the overriding wish that the Secretary of State would act upon the contents of this motion. In addition, Members also made the request that responses that were received by the Council to this motion should be circulated to Members and the wider public.
When put to the vote, it was then declared CARRIED that:-
"This Council urges the Secretary of State for Education to urgently address the unfair funding arrangements of Devon Schools and to implement a "new and fairer national funding formula" as promised in the Chancellor's 2015 Autumn Spending Review.
The proposals for the latest national funding settlement provide a worsening situation for our schools and colleges in West Devon. This is particularly affected by rising expenditure demands, noticeably staffing costs, arising from the latest national policy decisions.
The council calls on the Secretary of State to address the current allocation of education funding to provide a fairer national allocation and to recognise the general inadequacy of funding of our local schools.
The Council also asks the Schools Minister to look again at the unfair funding proposals.”