The National school funding formula is the method used to distribute money to ‘mainstream schools’ in England. In 2018, the Conservative government reallocated money so that there is a smaller disparity in spending between schools. Although a fairer national distribution of school funding is to be welcomed, this can only work if there are sufficient funds in the first place.

In Brighton and Hove this reallocation equated to a real terms cut of 11% or £11.5 million to our schools. This is an insult, it is sure to undermine the moral of students and teachers, and it posed a desperately difficult barrier to delivering the world class education our young people deserve.

I was chair of governors of a local school, so I’ve seen first-hand what it takes to improve outcomes for young people. The work students put in is colossal. The effort teachers and staff put in is almost inhuman, and as a result we have no more secondary schools in special measures. Education in our city is improving, opportunities for young people are growing. Our school community is doing every single thing that is asked of it, and the response of Conservative government was to slash the very funding that pays for books, specialist support and teaching, getting the best teachers into schools that need them the most and making sure our buildings are kept up to scratch.

I want to be on the frontline of this issue and I did my very best to be an effective opponent to the negative changes. I attended a meeting with the Head Teachers of Brighton & Hove schools and also attended the meeting of Save Our Schools – a campaign group set-up to represent parents in the area.

I also wrote to the principal of every school in Hove and Portslade pledging my support to them, their individual school, and our collective school community here. I did my very best to give their campaign the voice they need and deserve both in Parliament and Locally.

Education is something that is very close to my heart, I will never stop fighting for every student to have the very best educational opportunities, both social and academic. They deserve nothing less from us.

I’ve been an active member of the SOS Campaign and have been from the start. They are a brilliant group who are putting pressure on government over this issue.

Now we are in power, we have the opportunity to affect real change. We have introduced VAT on to private schools, in order to fund 6000 new teachers across the country. This results in a better and fairer education for the nation. In April we introduced breakfast clubs which will free up valuable time for parents – and no child should go to school with a hungry belly. Now in government, we are making changes across the board to education, finally giving it the attention it deserves.