Nick Clegg announces education funding commitment for Plymouth & the South West

11.29.00pm GMT Thu 28th Jan 2010

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg MP, pictured above with schoolchildren, & the Lib Dems will plough money into South West schools to give children a fair start in life

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg MP today announced a major funding commitment to boost education in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.

Nick Clegg today set out the Liberal Democrat manifesto commitment for a Pupil Premium that would invest around £85m of extra cash in South West schools, raising funding for disadvantaged pupils to private school levels.

Recent figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show that:

• Devon is in the bottom 10 authorities for school funding

• Cornwall and Somerset are both in the bottom 25 of the school funding league table

• Pupils in Devon attract 10% less funding than the national average

• Only 23% of the poorest pupils in Devon achieved five good GCSEs, including English and maths, compared with more than half of their better-off classmates

• The gap in academic achievement between rich and poor is 31%

• In Devon, Cornwall and Somerset last year, less than a quarter of those children entitled to free school meals achieved five decent GCSEs including English and maths

Under the Pupil Premium the Liberal Democrats would invest an extra £13.3 million in Plymouth, and in the rest of the South West:

• £27.3m in Devon

• £22.1m in Cornwall

• £15.4m in Somerset

• £7.2m in Torbay

Nick Clegg said: "It's nothing short of a scandal that children in the South West continue to lose out under Labour. Schools in the South West receive significantly less money than the national average.

"With this unfairness in funding it's no surprise there is such a gap in achievement between children from the poorest backgrounds and those families who are better off.

"Under our plans, schools in the South West would get a further £85m which they could use to cut class sizes and provide more individual support. Only when we get education funding back on track will be able to give all our children the fair start they deserve."