DEVON’S MPs are being lobbied to secure more funding for education because the county council receives £23.5m less than some other areas.

Donna Manson, chief executive of Devon County Council, said the authority suffers because of “inequalities in the funding formula” that put it down the pecking order for schools’ funding.

She claimed the way education funding is calculated has a disproportionate impact on deprived communities, including places in the bottom 20 per cent nationally, which includes Ilfracombe, Barnstaple, Bideford, Teignmouth, Torquay, Paignton and parts of central Exeter.

“We have been listening to school leaders about the funding required to provide support to their pupils, including those with special needs, and it has a real impact on budget,” she told the council’s children’s scrutiny committee.

“We’ve taken the time to listen and we have asked the county’s MPs if they can help.”

Many of Devon’s new MPs are in parliament for the first time, including David Reed (Conservative, Exmouth and Exeter East), Rebecca Smith (Conservative, South West Devon), Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat, Tiverton and Minehead) and Steve Race (Labour, Exeter).

Former longstanding Devon MP, Sir Gary Streeter, was part of a group called the F40, representing councils that receive the lowest funded for education.

In a letter to the then-chancellor Phillip Hammond, the group called on the Conservatives to reconsider changes to the funding formula.

“The F40 group continues to have fundamental concerns about the new formula,” the letter said.

“We believe the government has replaced one unfair system with another, as some of the historic unfairness has been locked into the new formula.

“We are concerned that the formula does not give enough basic entitlement to schools and allows too much for add-ons, enabling big differences in funding to occur between different local authorities and schools.”

Paul Walker, chief executive of the First Federation Trust, said finances were also a challenge for schools.

“We had a meeting last term with the Education and Skills Funding Agency, which said it was pleased that school funding had returned to 2010 levels,” he said.

“I think that demonstrates the size of the issue, we’re looking at 2024 outcomes with 2010 funding levels.”

The pressures on funding come as Devon works to tackle its ballooning special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) deficit, which stood at over £163 million last year.

The council struck a deal with the Department for Education, which will provide £95 million to the council over nine years, but the authority must make savings and reduce its deficit.

Bradley Gerrard