The iniquity of regional education funding

We’re told that this is a problem and that something must be done:

Northern schools get less funding than those in London, report reveals

Analysis found that pupils in London received 9.7 per cent more funding than those in the North on average

Gosh, how dastardly. This is from the Child of the North group for an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). From the report:

Schools in London received an average of £6,610 per pupil compared to £6,225, £5,956, and £5,938 in the

North East, North West, and Yorkshire & The Humber, respectively.

A thought did hit us. There’s London weighting on teacher pay isn’t there? In fact there would be on all pay, support staff and so on. Umm, London weighting runs from - measured by Mk I Eyeball, no more accurate than that - 10% in the fringe to 30% in the centre. And teacher pay is half of schooling costs and also:

Expenditure on teachers and education support staff accounts for around two-thirds of all school spending, and in a tenth of schools it accounts for over three-quarters.

So split the difference there on the London zones and pay is 20% higher, pay is 50% of costs and that explains a 10% difference overall. Which is what is being complained about, a 10% difference in funding.

We did read the report. We looked at footnotes. We found no mention at all of the London Weighting. That could be our eyesight, we don’t claim perfection. But our basic reaction here is come along now people, the APPG isn’t even trying here, is it?

So, having solved the iniquity of regional education funding what time’s the footie start?