IT was good to be in the House last Thursday for an unexpected announcement on school funding.

Historically, schools have been funded differently depending on their location in the country.

Wiltshire has traditionally lost out to the tune of hundreds of pounds per pupil as a result of this.

As one headteacher rather effectively put it to me, “if I was ten miles further south, I would have over £50,000 more in my budget”.

I therefore welcome last week’s announcement that fairer national funding will be delivered in 2015, when more certainty can be provided to schools through the multi-year spending review.

However, we have gone further. In the short term, this government will provide £350m worth of new financial support this year to schools that have been penalised.

This means a much-needed £5.4m boost for Wiltshire, worth £92 for every pupil in our schools. This is new money that the coalition can pledge because our long term economic plan is working.

Of course, addressing the historic per pupil shortfall is not the answer to every financial problem. Each of the schools in Salisbury is very different, and they face unique challenges in their budgets.

This is why I took the opportunity to question the minister about Wyvern College, where I am an associate governor. I look forward to meeting with him to discuss the longstanding pressures on Wyvern’s budget and the potential for enhancing the capital investment in the site.

I also look forward to a long awaited meeting next week with Stuart Smallwood, Headteacher at Bishop Wordsworth’s School, to discuss the specific challenges that the excellent grammar schools here face with respect to sixth form funding.

This week in the House was dominated by the important debate on events in the Ukraine and the Chancellor’s budget – both of which I attended.

On Friday, I will be rounding off an education-filled month by meeting the Wessex Partnership of headteachers for my second education Q&A session this month before participating in my fifth consecutive Alabaré sponsored sleep-out – always a well-supported and thought-provoking event.