Speaking up for rural schools in Parliament

Helen Morgan spoke out for rural schools as she challenged the Government on its education strategy in the House of Commons.

The North Shropshire MP raised points that local headteachers recently made with her regarding staffing and funding.

School leaders in Shropshire are facing challenges recruiting and retaining staff and are concerned about differences in the funding received by schools in urban areas compared to those in rural locations like North Shropshire.

Attracting staff to rural areas is a problem faced by many parts of the public sector, with GP surgeries and dental practices across North Shropshire also struggling to recruit.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Helen Morgan MP said, “I recently had a meeting with headteachers from across North Shropshire and they were very clear that they have two top issues.

“One is recruitment and retention of staff, and the other one is the fact that rural schools receive less funding than their urban counterparts.

“Can the Secretary of State tell me what she's doing to help schools in rural areas with those two big problems?”

In response, Schools Minister Nick Gibb said, “Well, in terms of recruitment, we've increased the bursaries for this year from 130 million to 180 million. So there's £27,000 bursaries for some of those shortage subjects.

“So in the national funding formula, we have changed a number of the elements to give more money to schools in rural areas through the sparse funding component.”