The Pupil Premium is a Liberal Democrat Policy in Action (Jeremy Hilton)

The Pupil Premium is a Liberal Democrat Policy in Action

October 18, 2011 3:51 PM

Liberal Democrats in Gloucestershire are delighted with the announcement of the final Pupil Premium figures.

Released last week, every school this year will receive an extra £488 for each child on free school meals that they have on their roll. Liberal Democrat Councillor Charmian Sheppard (St Mark's, St Paul's and St Peter's) said "given the poor funding per pupil in Gloucestershire, this is an added bonus, and should therefore be well received by schools.

"It'll be entirely up to individual schools and not the Local Authority how this additional money will be spent, but there is no doubt it will go directly into classrooms - benefiting all pupils."

Figures show that schools in the current parliamentary constituency of Gloucester will get £1.36million whilst schools in Cheltenham will get over £700,000 extra.

Total funding across England will rise from £625m this year to £2.5bn by the end of this parliament.

Liberal Democrat Leader Councillor Jeremy Hilton said "The pupil premium was a key commitment of the Liberal Democrats at the general election, which is now being implemented in government.

"In my own division, Kingsholm Primary School has benefited by an extra £47,000, Elmbridge Infant and Junior schools by £32,500 and Hempsted Primary getting an extra £8,000.

"We just need to continue to make sure that all pupils who are eligible for school meals are registered in order that schools can benefit from these additional funds."

Liberal Democrats are encouraging parents to contact their local school to find out how they are using this extra funding.