If a change in tax or spending involves winners and losers then usually the cheers of the winners are downed out by the protest of the losers. An example of this is the Government’s proposal for a fairer schools funding formula. At present some schools receive more than £2,000 per pupil, per year, less than other schools. There is a cross party campaign group called f40 which backs this. But those areas (such as London) which faced budget cuts were rather louder in attacking the Government.
So the Conservative Manifesto has proposed bringing in the change gradually so that no school will actually face a budget cut:
“The way funding is distributed to schools in England is not fair. Across the country, children with the same needs and expectations receive markedly different rates of funding for their school place. We have begun to correct this and in the next parliament we will make funding fairer still. We appreciate that it is hard for schools receiving a higher level of funding to make cuts in order to pay for increases elsewhere, so while we will make funding fairer over the course of the parliament, we will make sure that no school has its budget cut as a result of the new formula. We will increase the overall schools budget by £4 billion by 2022, representing more than a real terms increase for every year of the parliament. We will continue to protect the Pupil Premium to support those who need it.”
A very sensible way to proceed.