JUST before Christmas, the Government published its first draft of the new national funding formula for schools.

Regular readers will know that I’ve campaigning for a new, fairer funding formula for schools for some time.

It’s simply unfair that two schools with almost identical characteristics should receive vastly different levels of funding.

Under the old system, Warrington ranked 125th out of the 140 authorities in England for its level of school funding, so I had high hopes that that ranking would rise to reflect the pockets of deprivation that we have in our town.

The good news is that, overall, Warrington sees its funding rise by 0.5 per cent.

That may not sound like much but, of the five worst-funded metropolitan boroughs in the north of England, Stockport is the only other authority which sees an overall rise – albeit lower than the rate of inflation.

However, that overall figure masks another problem.

While every single one of the secondary schools in the borough will see budget rises – with Sir Thomas Boteler and Cardinal Newman being the biggest winners – 40 out of the 68 primary schools will actually see less cash under the new formula.

Overall, while the secondary budget rises by about £700,000, the primary budget falls by £55,000.

I’ve been digging into the formula to find out how this has happened.

Essentially the amount handed to each school will now be determined predominantly by the characteristics of its pupils (although there is a small component to assist those schools in rural locations).

Each pupil has a minimum allowance which is then topped up to reflect levels of deprivation, low prior attainment and whether or not English is their first language.

This all seems sensible, the main question seems to be how those various components are weighted.

Warrington’s schools are among the best in the country.

Evelyn Street and Grappenhall Heys Primary Schools were ranked in the Times’ top 100 schools in the country and Appleton Thorn narrowly missed out.

It seems perverse that the incredible work done by the teachers, head teachers and teaching assistants is actually resulting in Warrington’s funding being cut.

I’m seeking a meeting with the education secretary to better understand the issues.