Outrage as Croydon schools lose almost £800K in Pupil Premium cuts

Liberal Democrat campaigners have reacted furiously to the news that schools in Croydon will lose almost £800K in funding as a result of changes to the way that the Government calculates the pupil premium grant. Primary schools will lose £581,040 and secondary schools will lose £210,940 because of the decision to base the funding on a school's pupil numbers in October rather than January as previously calculated. The information was released by Croydon Council following a question from local resident Claire Bonham at July’s Council meeting in Croydon.

Claire Bonham, Liberal Democrat campaigner for Crystal Palace & Upper Norwood, said: 

“It is appalling that the government is using a sleight of hand trick to cut hundreds of thousands pounds of funding which supports some of the most disadvantaged pupils in Croydon. At a time when the attainment gap is widening and children from poorer backgrounds have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, this Government should be looking to increase our local pupil premium, not cut it.

"The Lib Dems introduced the pupil premium and have had to fight the Tories to keep it properly funded. Given the financial pressure that families are under, this change has real potential to cause harm and will have a direct impact on the quality of education schools can provide for those who are in desperate need of more, not less, support. I am also calling on Croydon Council to support those schools affected by this loss of funding – we cannot let children suffer at school simply because of the actions of this Conservative Government.”