AS 2016 comes to an end I am pleased to be able to report that the Conservative Government has fulfilled yet another manifesto commitment by introducing a fair funding formula for schools and I am doubly pleased to report that the residents of Taunton Deane had much to do with this.

You may remember earlier in the year, following meetings with teachers, parents and governors I launched a Fair Funding Petition, intended to highlight to the Government the historic injustice whereby pupils in Somerset received on average £2000 less each than those in the highest funded areas.

Thousands of people signed my petition, demonstrating to Government that this was no way to treat the people of Somerset. I followed this up with letters and Ministerial meetings. It had an effect, and Government agreed to look into a new formula.

With the consultation period over, new Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening has recently set out the Government’s detailed plans to introduce a new, fairer system.

It will do away with the current, outdated system which has been based on old data and patchy, inconsistent decisions built up over many years which have resulted in similar schools receiving drastically different levels of funding. This has put pupils at a real educational disadvantage, with Somerset being one of the most seriously affected.

I am delighted that all the lobbying of Ministers has been worth it and as a result Somerset pupils will receive the fourth highest increase in funding in the country with a rise of 2.4 per cent. I really hope that this will benefit our dedicated and hardworking school leaders and teaching staff and of course have the desired impact on pupils.

Standing up for the best interests of our young people across all our schools from Wellington, to Wiveliscombe, Taunton and all the village schools in-between has always been a top priority for me and I look forward to this change in funding making a significant contribution to improving pupils’ outcomes.

Finally, I would like to wish you all a happy, healthy and relaxing Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.