IN your paper on Tuesday, January 9, Dan Wicksteed asks if I will be prepared to support the campaign for revisiting the outdated formula for allocating money from Government for education in Worcestershire. Of course, my answer is yes.
I support any action that:
1. More fairly calculates the Government's assessment of how much Worcestershire needs to spend per school child.
2. Results in Worcestershire council taxpayers receiving extra Government grants to fund local services, to prevent a council tax increase of 13 per cent.
I support this campaign because Government is treating Worcestershire schools unfairly. When the Labour Government came to power in 1997, they inherited funding guidelines for primary pupils which were £173 per pupil below the national average.
The proposals for this year shows the gap now to be £242. Tony Blair has taken a further £69 from every primary school pupil in just four years.
Similar analysis for secondary pupils shows he has reduced funding by an extra £78 per pupil per year.
Worcestershire is in crisis. Our children are disadvantaged year after year and council taxpayers have to pay huge increases for deteriorating services.
In spite of the widespread support for the campaign, there is no evidence that Tony Blair is listening.
The Labour and Liberal Democrat group on the county council will go along with a 13 per cent increase in council tax and then preside over cuts to education. This is not good enough.
PAUL MIDDLEBROUGH,
Norton, Worcester.
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