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25 Jan 99

£3 Million Extra For Poole

The Borough of Poole is celebrating the success of a joint campaign with the Daily Echo for fair funding for its Schools. The campaign has led to a 6.6% increase from the government in education funding for the Borough and means an extra £3m for Poole Schools.

Members of the Borough's Education Committee will receive proposals to pass on all the extra funding to its schools at its meeting on Tuesday 26th January. Whilst some of this will be needed to cover extra pupils, inflation and increases in teachers' pay, over £1 million is "real terms" growth and will mean:

· Poole will achieve maximum class sizes of 30 for its infant classes
· Additional staff for the Borough's special schools
· An average 5% increase in all Local Education Authority school budgets - to be spent on individual priorities as decided by each school

Under the Government's new arrangements, all schools will be funded on the same basis. Councillor Brian Clements, Leader of the Council, said: "I know that Grant Maintained schools have been worried about the impact of these changes on their financial situation. I am pleased to say the reality is that now we can bring all Local Education Authority schools up to the same level of funding as Grant Maintained schools".

Chairman of the Education Committee, Councillor Annette Brooke said: "We believe in self-governing schools, and are keen to give our schools the resources and support for their new responsibilities. The Council is fully committed to "the family of Poole schools", and we will be strengthening and building on the partnerships we have achieved during the last couple of years".

She added: "I am pleased that our schools will be receiving more funds this year but they are still receiving less money than schools in other parts of the country. We will continue the campaign for a fair deal for our pupils".

Shirley Goodwin, Policy Director, tel (01202) 633202