New figures show astonishing £521 cut to pupil funding in Hampshire

Research undertaken by the House of Commons Library and shared with the Gazette's sister paper the Hampshire Chronicle by the Liberal Democrats shows that since 2015, children in Hampshire have each had their education cut in real terms by £521.

The Liberal Democrats says this represents the fifth biggest drop in real terms funding per child in the entire country and are now calling for the cuts to be reversed to solve "deprivation blind spots" in the South of England.

The party is also calling for £15 billion of catch-up funding, as was recommended by former Education Recovery Commissioner Sir Kevan Collins, with £5 billion to be earmarked for £200 catch-up vouchers for every child, or double that amount for disadvantaged pupils, putting money into the hands of parents to spend on what their children need most.

Danny Chambers, Liberal Democrat candidate for Winchester and Chandler’s Ford said: “This funding cut is an utter disgrace. The Conservative Government is letting families and children in Hampshire down - they deserve much better than this.

“It’s clear that levelling up is just a political tactic to win votes in the North of England. The South East of England is being overlooked by the Tories. Winchester and Chandler’s Ford’s MP, Steve Brine, has a lot to answer for too.

"Whilst he has been cashing in on a second, third, and fourth jobs in the last two years, local children have seen money for their education squeezed down.

In the South East of England, Wokingham has seen the biggest drop in real terms funding per child (£561), whilst Hampshire (£521), and Surrey (£507) also feature in the top 10 areas.

In Hampshire, Portsmouth was identified as one of 55 "cold spots" across England where education outcomes are the weakest in yesterday's Levelling Up White Paper.

Elsewhere, Dorset and the Isle of Wight were also included within plans for extra funding and support.

Table shows Hampshire ranks fifth for the biggest cuts per child

In response to the figures, Conservative county councillor Roz Chadd, executive lead member for children’s services, said: “Firstly, I would like to highlight that funding issues aside, Hampshire schools are some of the best in the country, with well over 90 per cent being judged good or outstanding by Ofsted.

"Hampshire children and young people consistently achieve above the national average across a range of educational measures. The outcomes for the vast majority are very good.

“In terms of the figures being quoted, I would need to understand more about how they were calculated before being able to confirm if they are accurate or not.

"However, it would be fair to say that we are one of the lowest funded local authorities on a per pupil basis and we remain concerned about the distribution and sufficiency of funding made available by the Government to our schools and also to support pupils with special educational needs."

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