Funding for education is a priority for this government. As announced at the Spending Review, we have protected the core schools budget in real terms. This year the schools budget will total around £40 billion. We are also committed to making funding fairer by introducing a national funding formula. A national funding formula will ensure that all schools are on an even starting point from which to build educational excellence. This is because a national funding formula will recognise pupil need, and pupils with similar needs will attract the same amount of funding wherever they are in the country.

Nationally we have protected the core schools budget in real terms to the end of the current Spending Review period, enabling a per-pupil protection for the dedicated schools grant so that the money available for our schools will increase as pupil numbers rise.

The DSG allocations for Birmingham in 2016-17 are found in the table below:

Birmingham DSG allocations 2016-17

Allocations for future years will be announced in due course.

We believe that schools should be funded on a consistent and predictable basis, which is why we have proposed to introduce a National Funding Formula. The first stage of our two part consultation closed on 17 April and we are currently considering all the responses. We will be launching the second stage of the consultation, which will include illustrative allocations for all schools and local areas, later in the year.

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue and for contributing to the recent debate on education funding in London. The second stage of our consultation will detail the impact of the formula on schools. I understand the importance of giving schools stability and budget security, but in advance of that consultation it would not be appropriate to speculate on the specific impact of the formula. That would be unfair to schools and parents.

As a long-term governor, and having visited the outstanding Bevington school in Kensington this morning, will the Minister talk about the area school cost adjustment in respect of meeting the higher costs and vulnerability of schools in London?

Educational standards improved dramatically in London under the previous Labour Government, a timely reminder of the virtue of Labour winning elections. In the Minister’s attempt rightly to increase funding to levels needed across the rest of the country, will he confirm that school budgets in London will not suffer, thereby setting back the enormous progress that has been made?

Is the Minister aware that schools in my constituency in west London are already having to implement the biggest cuts to their budgets they have ever made? Will he assure the head teachers I met this morning that there will be no further cuts when fair funding comes in?

What plans she has to ensure that reform of the school funding formula does not have a negative effect on schools in London.

Children and young people’s mental health is a priority for the Department. We have high aspirations for all children and young people and we want them to be able to fulfil their potential. Good mental health is core to them achieving that outcome. To help children and young people maintain good mental health and access support when they need it, we provide a range of information, tools and guidance to enable schools and colleges to provide appropriate direct support for their pupils and to work collaboratively with health services and other providers.

When diagnosable mental health problems occur, schools and colleges need to be able to refer pupils to specialist support from Child and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHS), voluntary organisations and local GPs. To improve coordination between services the Department for Education and NHS England have run a joint £3m pilot between schools and CAMHS in 255 schools across 27 Clinical Commissioning Groups. This pilot aimed to improve knowledge and understanding of mental health issues, develop and maintain effective joint working practices and to test the concept of having a 'single point of contact' in both schools and CAMHS. The outcomes from the pilot are being independently evaluated and a full report is expected by the end of this year with early findings very positive. We are currently working on plans to both extend the reach of the pilots and scale up activity in existing areas.

We have published a blueprint for school counselling services which provides schools with practical, evidence-based advice, informed by schools and by counselling experts, on how to deliver high quality school-based counselling to support those pupils with particular needs: www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools

To help teachers to identify those pupils who need help we have issued advice on behaviour and mental health[1]. In addition we funded the PSHE Association (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education)[2] to provide mental health guidance and lesson plans which support age-appropriate teaching, dealing with emotions and helping teachers to talk to children about their anxieties and worries.

Whilst not an alternative to professional interventions, peer support programmes have the potential to provide effective additional support for pupils facing anxiety issues or other concerns. We are looking at encouraging the provision of quality peer support in schools and colleges, community groups and online. We have announced £1.5m of funding for this work, and are currently reviewing the findings from a national call for evidence.

[1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2

[2] www.pshe-association.org.uk

A funding agreement is contract between the Secretary of State and an academy trust. The model funding agreement states that the agreement can be terminated under the following grounds: termination by either party; by warning notice; by the Secretary of State after inspection; by the Secretary of State; and a change of control.

The Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) are civil servants, and as such, carry out their duties in the name of the Secretary of State. The RSCs have powers to make a decision, on behalf of the Secretary of State, to replace a sponsor or trust, where they have not been able to secure necessary improvements. In some circumstances, the funding agreement may be terminated as part of the process.

As with other areas of their responsibility, RSCs escalate decisions to the National Schools Commissioner or the relevant minister where they are sensitive, raise issues of interpretation of government policy, or relate to urgent safeguarding or extremism concerns.

The decision to terminate a funding agreement that results in the closure of an academy is made by the Secretary of State.

Listed below are the numbers of academy closures and re-brokerages by region since the RSCs’ appointment in September 2014: