Lib Dems will invest £42 million to protect school funding in Cumbria

The Liberal Democrats have announced they will invest over £42 million more in schools and colleges in Cumbria over the next parliament.

The funding for Cumbria would reverse cuts to frontline school and college budgets, protect per pupil funding in real terms and ensure no school loses out from changes to funding arrangements.

£2,735,000 of the funding would be spent on protecting the Pupil Premium, introduced by the Liberal Democrats to help the most disadvantaged children.

Rebecca Hanson, Parliamentary Candidate for Copeland said:

“Children in Cumbria are being taught in overcrowded classes by overworked teachers – but Theresa May doesn’t care.

“Under the Conservatives, funding per pupil is set to see the biggest cuts in a generation, while billions of pounds are being spent on divisive plans to expand grammar schools and free schools.

“This extra £42 million of funding would ensure no school and no child loses out.

“We will reverse crippling Conservative cuts to school budgets and invest to ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed.”

“I am personally appalled by the crisis in education and commit to do all in my power to support our schools in the future.”

Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron said:

“A landslide for the Conservatives would allow Theresa May to take parents across the country for granted and cut our schools to the bone.

“Only the Liberal Democrats can provide the strong opposition Britain needs to stand up for Cumbria.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

The Liberal Democrats will invest £6.9bn more in our schools and colleges over the next parliament, to ensure no school and no child loses out. A breakdown of local figures on additional funding by local authority can be found here.

Over the course of the Parliament, we will:

• Protect per pupil funding in real terms in schools (£3.31bn)
• Protect further education per pupil funding in real terms (£660m)
• Ensure no school loses out from the National Funding Formula (£1.26bn)
• Protect the pupil premium in real terms (£415m)

These plans will be fully costed in the Liberal Democrat manifesto, which will be launched in due course and set all our spending plans out in more detail. This will include reversing the Government’s proposed funding for new grammar schools.

A report by the National Audit Office has found school budgets will be slashed by £3bn in real terms by 2019-20 – the equivalent to reducing spending by 8 per cent per pupil, under current government plans (link)

Rebecca Hanson, the Liberal Democrat Candidate for Copeland, taught in secondary schools in Copeland before becoming a Lecturer in Education and an Education Advisor.  She served on the Liberal Democrats Education Association Committee and worked to challenge Michael Gove’s education chaos for three years during the coalition government.