THE Conservative parliamentary candidate for Congleton has hailed the success of the campaign against school cuts.

Fiona Bruce has welcomed the response from the Conservative government following their announcement to reform the national funding formula in their 2017 manifesto.

Fiona, whilst an MP, had met with the schools minister, before following up with a further meeting with Education Secretary Justine Greening, to lobby to reform the proposals.

A Conservative government would now reform the proposals, stating that ‘no school has its budget cut as a result of the new formula.’

The manifesto also states that the party would increase the overall school sbudget by £4 billion by 2022.

Fiona Bruce said: “This is a great victory for all of us who have fought hard to ensure that our schools would not lose funding.

“It is a victory for parents, head teachers and all our communities in this area.

“If re-elected, I will continue to fight for schools in my constituency, to ensure they receive their fair and proper share of the £4 billion increased budget.”

The Labour Party believe that despite the proposed increase, a Conservative government would still see east Cheshire schools lose out.

Sam Corcoran, Labour parliamentary candidate for Congleton, said: “The majority of this increase will be a push for grammar schools and free schools.

“Schools in east Cheshire would still lose out as there are increases in pupil numbers, to staff pay and to costs of equipment.

“None of these are covered in a national budget and Fiona Bruce needs to do far more.

“We need to have proper funding for our schools or we will be the worst funded in the country."