MP HENDRY DEMANDS FAIR DEAL FOR SCHOOLS

He is writing to Education Secretary, Ruth Kelly, to find out why the government spends almost twice as much on educating a child in the City of London than it does in East Sussex.

The average school grant per pupil across the country was revealed in a Parliamentary answer from the Education Minister Jacqui Smith and shows 'gross discrepancies' across the country.

Mr Hendry said: 'East Sussex schools are allocated 3,598 per pupil this year, while schools in Manchester receive 4,104 per pupil and schools in the City of London receive 6,708. That means a pupil in East Sussex is allocated 45 per cent less funding than a pupil in the City of London.

'So a school of 1,600 pupils in Manchester will receive 6,566,400 in central government funding, which is almost 1 million more than a school of the same size in East Sussex (which would receive 5,756,800).

'A similar sized school in the City of London will receive 10,732,800 - 5 million more than a school of the same size in East Sussex.'

He added: 'This is still grossly unfair. The government has clearly failed to deliver on its promise, to provide equal and fair funding for schools. I am writing to Ruth Kelly to know why we are treated so badly and to demand that the government gives us a fair deal.'