The Morecambe & Lunesdale MP David Morris, has welcomed news that the Government has increased spending on school places by nearly three times the amount spent under the previous Labour Government.
Figures released today by the Department for Education suggest that Lancashire County Council has been allocated £65,391,926 to fund school places from 2011/12 – 2014/15 which is close to three times the £23,407,514 allocated by the previous Labour Government for the period 2007/8 to 2010/11.
The figures also show that funding for new school places across the country has increased to £5 billion in 2011/15, more than double that spent by Labour – who actually cut school places by 200,000. A further £2.35 billion of funding has also been announced for 2015/17.
David Morris MP said:
“The previous Labour Government were warned time and time again about underfunding new places, they ignored the warnings and severely underfunded the education system. I welcome news that the Government has increased funding by nearly three times here in Lancashire, which in real terms equates to nearly £40,000,000 more in Lancashire to educate our young people.”
“The increase in funding also means that the number of new primary places will significantly increase in Lancashire with 1580 new places available which is an increase of 760 places.”
"This Government’s swift action will ensure we can deliver the best schools for our young people so that they have the skills they need to get on in life.’"