MP Fiona Bruce has called again for increased school funding.

Speaking in Parliament, she said: “Primary and secondary schools across my constituency provide a commendably high standard of education.

“In the Cheshire East local authority area, 87 per cent of children now attend schools rated good or outstanding, compared with 73 per cent in 2010.

“Much of the credit for that goes to dedicated staff in schools and strong leadership by headteachers, but as Education Ministers will know from a dialogue we have been having for some years, those same headteachers say that is in spite of acute funding pressures.

“To be fair, I want to thank Education Ministers and the Minister for School Standards in particular for having listening ears.

“Two years ago they raised per-pupil funding in senior schools to £4,800, which was the exact amount headteachers in my constituency requested.

“Total funding for Cheshire East schools is rising by £10.4 million over 2018-20, but that figure factors in increased pupil numbers, which are disproportionately high, due to the high number of new house builds.

“Yes, an additional £1.6 million of high needs funding has been added for the same two years, but this is woefully insufficient to meet current additional needs, causing distress, as I have seen in my surgeries, to parents, pupils and teachers.

“Yes, an additional £3.8 million of funding has been added through the growth, premises and mobility factors of the national funding formula in 2019-20, and an additional £10.4 million of pupil premium funding will be received by schools as a result of that having been introduced, as we have heard, by the coalition Government.

“I recognise all this, but headteachers repeatedly tell me they cannot provide the level of education they aspire to due to funding pressures.

“If the spending review is the key determinant of spending for the Government, I hope this debate will strengthen Education Ministers’ arms—because I do believe that they have listening ears—in setting out a strong case for much improved education funding, and will open the Treasury’s eyes and ears to what is being said in this Chamber today.”