Teachers from Portsmouth schools met with City MP Stephen Morgan today with their concerns about the current and future level of school funding in the city.

The National Education Union (NEU) is running a campaign and website demonstrating that 88% of school budgets are being cut by Government in real terms compared with 2015. There is widespread awareness that present and future levels of financial commitment fall well short of what is needed to maintain real terms 2015/16 funding.

£2.8 billion has been cut from school budgets since 2015 and school funding is £2bn a year less than it was.

Under Government plans 92% of the city’s schools are set to lose out. Average pupil funding in Portsmouth will drop by £273.00 per pupil which equates to a -6% reduction.  At Ark Charter Academy in the heart of the city, there is a £650.00 reduction per pupil.

Stephen Morgan MP for Portsmouth South said:

“It was good to welcome local teachers to Parliament today. From what they’ve said, it is clear that school funding is in crisis, and we must have a response from Government which appreciates the magnitude of the problem, and invests accordingly in the country’s future.

In next month’s Budget, I am urging the Chancellor to make sure the right sums are allocated for the Department of Education.

As someone who benefited from Portsmouth’s schools, I won’t rest until they are given a better deal from this Government.

It is high time our city’s schools get the resources they so desperately need to give every single child in Portsmouth the best possible start in life”.