SCHOOLS in West Devon Devon are to benefit from a cash boost in the biggest step towards fairer funding in a decade.

Teachers welcomed the move this week which will see funding increase by around £184 per pupil in Devon, which is one of the poorest-funded authorities in the country.

Earlier this year the Government announced that it would take action to tackle the unfair and complicated system of allocating local schools funding and launched a consultation on how to deliver a cash boost of £350-million to schools in the least fairly funded areas by setting minimum funding levels. An extra £40-million was then announced in the summer.

Principal of Tavistock College Helen Salmon said this was the first step towards redressing the balance in funding.

'There are 152 local education authorities in the country and and Devon is sixth from the bottom,' she said.

'It is crazy that a child in Surrey is worth £6,000 and a child in Devon is worth more than two thousand pounds less.

'There is such a massive disparity. I understand deprived areas should have more funding but many of the areas that receive more money are affluent areas.

'This is the first stage towards getting a national funding formula where every pupil would get the same level of basic funding.

'There should then be criteria for increasing the funding, for example, if you have such things as deprivation or rurality.

'When I worked at a school in Bristol, most of the children walked to school, but in Tavistock, 14 buses bring children in from the rural areas yet this is not taken into account when it comes to funding.'

There are currently 1,266 children at Tavistock College and 81 teachers.

Mrs Salmon said she would dearly love enough cash to invest in more teachers but the reality was that this extra funding would only enable her to keep the status quo.

'It will stop me having to cut things so that is positive, but we need further equality across the system. At least we are seeing a willingness by the Government now to tackle this issue.'

Last week the Department of Education published its final per-pupil funding allocations for 2015-16 for all local areas. In 2014-15 the total funding for schools in Devon was £358.1-million and in 2015-16 that will rise by 4.7% to £374.8-million.

Areas across the South West including Cornwall will all receive an increase in funding.

Schools minister David Laws said: 'Schools are absolutely crucial to our vision to build a stronger economy and a fairer society, so that everyone can reach their full potential.

'Without proper funding it's impossible to give children a fair start in life.

'That's why we are taking action to address the unfairness in school funding by allocating an additional £390-million to the least fairly funded areas in the country, whilst protecting schools budgets elsewhere.

'This is the biggest step towards fairer schools funding in a decade, meaning every local area will attract a minimum level of funding for its pupils and schools in 2015-16.

'Schools are also benefiting from an additional £2.5-billion of extra funding through the pupil premium to help raise attainment amongst the most disadvantaged pupils.'

West Devon MP Geoffrey Cox said: 'I have fought long and hard for a better deal for West Devon and Torridge school children who have been paid inexcusably hundreds of pounds less than the national average.

'I am relieved and delighted that this Government is setting right this historic unfairness. I have the Government's assurance that the new level of funding will be locked in for the purpose of future years and this will represent a major improvement in the funding of local schools.'