The dedicated schools grant from the Government is, at £220m, the largest of all the grants given to Brighton and Hove City Council this year and must be used to fund schools or school related expenditure.
 
Schools in the City will benefit from £44 million worth of grants from the government for 2010/11to tackle problems like a lack of primary school places and to fund the Falmer Academy.  In the latest Council budget there will also be an increase of revenue allocated to schools in the City by 4% over then next year, which will mean £133.7 million pounds will go to local schools to help with ongoing costs.
 
The opposition Labour spokesperson for education, Cllr  Pat Hawkes, said:
“This is great news for children and parents.   A first class education for students in the City is essential and should be the right of every child, not just the privileged few.  It is fantastic that the Labour Government is investing nearly £200 million in our City’s state schools. This money is being used for things like, refurbishing classrooms, one-to-one tuition, free school meals and providing more primary school places.”
 
Labour Councillors will be urging the Conservative Council to ensure that all of the money identified for education is passed on directly to schools as required by the Government. Currently the Conservatives are proposing in their budget to using £126,000 from the Dedicated Schools Grant to cover their cuts to Youth Offending Services.
 
Labour has stated it hopes that the money will be spent on improving children’s school life as a whole and not just school buildings. Money has been allocated for free school lunches, improving mental health, extending rights to free transport and funding for teachers.

An extra £28 million will be used to for  Falmer Academy, investing in education for 14-19 year olds, improving education for children with special needs and nearly £9 million being spent to tackle the problem of the lack of primary school places in the City.

For more information about Brighton and Hove Council view:
www.brighton-hove.gov.uk