13 June 2008
The poorest children are missing out on money earmarked for their education because councils are choosing to spread the funds across all the pupils in their areas, according to economic experts.
A study from the Institute of Fiscal Studies, funded by the CfBT Education Trust, found that on average primary schools receive £3,670 in funding for each pupil who is eligible for free school meals.
However, the figure would be £5,950 if the school received the entire premium that Whitehall pays to local authorities for the education of low-income children.
In the secondary sector there is a similar disparity, with schools receiving about £5,520 per low-income pupil compared with the £7,120 they would receive if all central government funding were passed on.
Haroon Chowdry, one of the authors of the June 10 report, said: 'Local authorities are weakening the incentive for schools to attract children from disadvantaged backgrounds, by passing on the extra funding that Whitehall provides for them only slowly and incompletely to the schools they attend.
'If the government believes that spending more on the education of disadvantaged pupils is a good way to improve their life chances, it must be concerned that much of the money appears not be getting to the pupils that it presumably wishes to benefit.'
But the Local Government Association responded by saying that councils were constrained by the minimum funding guarantee, which stipulates that schools must have a minimum per pupil increase.
A spokesman said: 'Due to this, many authorities have found that they cannot pass funding to more deprived pupils. However, local authorities have responded positively and are exploring ways of revising their deprivation formula by working with head teachers and governors.'
The Association of Teachers and Lecturers said the IFS was wrong to blame councils for local funding decisions when these were taken by local forums. Deputy general secretary Martin Johnson said: 'We support retaining a local element in funding decisions, but the government needs to find a way to ensure the local forums, dominated by local head teachers, do not distort its funding intentions.'
Ministers ramped up the pressure on schools and local authorities further this week with the launch of the National Challenge, which aims to tackle persistently poorly performing schools.
The government has targeted 638 schools where fewer than 30% of pupils achieve five good GCSEs. It wants local authorities to prepare individual plans setting out how they will transform results in their National Challenge schools between now and 2011.
Schools Secretary Ed Balls said: 'We need rapid and sustainable improvement to raise children's aspirations and their job prospects.'
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