EARLIER this month, the Education Secretary Justine Greening announced an additional £1.3 billion schools funding over the next two years and a commitment to introducing a new, revised way of funding schools – the National Funding Formula - in 2018.

I welcome this announcement and feel it reflects a step in the right direction towards addressing the historic inequities in funding between schools in urban and rural areas – particularly felt in Oxfordshire.

This boost for core school funding will mean local authorities are able to increase the amount of cash going to every school during the next two years.

Whilst under original proposals a large number of schools could have potentially lost money, this investment will provide all schools with at least a 0.5 per cent per pupil gain over this period.

For underfunded schools, this figure rises to up to three per cent and, up to 2019-20, secondary schools will receive at least £4,800 per pupil.

To put that into context, in 2014-15 this figure was less than £4,200 so it therefore represents a sizeable increase.

I am pleased that the Government has listened to the concerns raised and has found the additional money to make sure Oxfordshire schools aren’t unfairly disadvantaged.

The Education Secretary also confirmed that a new National Funding Formula will be introduced in 2018, ending the unfair postcode lottery on school funding that has resulted in similar children, attending similar schools, attracting very different levels of funding.

This is an area which many MPs have campaigned on over the years and is therefore a widely-welcomed move.

This announcement demonstrates that ministers are listening to the concerns of MPs and those within the education sector. Oxfordshire is historically one of the poorest funded authorities in the country and myself and fellow MPs have long campaigned to rectify the issue of unfair fund allocations.

From the announcement it is evident that the Education Secretary recognises the unfairness of the previous formula and has now committed to address the historic unjustness felt by certain schools.

Whilst this is a positive step, it is important that it is not merely a short-term fix to a long-term problem.

Many local authorities – including Oxfordshire – have been under-funded for a long time and this must be addressed beyond the two years that the additional funding has been promised.

Ensuring that all children are afforded the best possible start in life is a personal priority of mine and I will continue to argue for fairer funding for schools in our county moving forward.