Theresa Villiers, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Chipping Barnet, has welcomed the commitment to extra funding for schools set out in the Conservative manifesto.
Responding to concerns of local parents and teachers, Theresa Villiers had called for extra resources and a fairer share of funding for Barnet schools. The Conservative Party has now pledged to increase the overall schools budget by £4 billion by 2022, which represents more than a real terms increase for every year of the next Parliament. They have also promised that no school will have their budget cut under plans to reform the way funding is allocated between different parts of the country.
Theresa said: “We have seen great progress in education in the years since the Conservatives entered government, with 1.8 million more pupils studying in good or outstanding schools, more rigorous exam standards, and improved educational outcomes.”
“When I was approached by parents concerned about the impact on Barnet schools of proposed changes to the funding formula which allocates budgets, I took this to the top. I raised the funding formula issue with the Education Secretary. I also highlighted the concerns of local schools about the cost pressures they are facing. The Government has listened and the manifesto pledges that if we are re-elected, the Conservatives will deliver a significant increase in the overall schools budget and ensure that no Barnet school suffers a cash loss in its funding.”
“Only the Conservatives can deliver the strong economy we need to enable us to fund our schools properly.”
Theresa Villiers had been campaigning to support Barnet’s schools in the debate about a new funding formula. She met with concerned residents and engaged with Barnet schools. She raised the issue of schools funding with the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Education Justine Greening, and Schools Ministe Nick Gibb, asking for resources to be shifted from other areas of public spending to support local schools.