Council leaders have welcome the announcement of £1.3bn new funding for schools, but have called for ‘urgent assurance’ of where the money is coming from.

Yesterday, the education secretary said an additional £1.3b for schools funding would be provided over the next two years.

Justine Greening also announced plans for a new national funding formula to maintain overall per pupil funding for the next two years and give every school a cash increase.

The Local Government Association (LGA) welcomed the ‘fairer funding system’ but asked for more details on how the money will be distributed.

Cllr Richard Watts, chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: ‘We are pleased that the Government has committed to ensuring no school is worse off as a result of the national funding formula and has announced some additional funding, however we need urgent assurance that it is not coming at the expense of other education provision.

‘We look forward to receiving further details from the Government about where the money is coming from and how it will be distributed.

The County Council Network also welcomed the funding but warned it must deliver for the 'grossly underfunded' counties.

Cllr Ian Hudspeth, County Councils Network spokesman for education and leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: 'As we will set out in our new report which calls for a ‘new deal’ for counties, government should take steps to redress the imbalances in pupil funding which sees a 47% gap per pupil between inner London and counties on average.

'It is imperative that government does not simply provide an uplift in basic per-pupil funding, as this would not address these historic inequities that have built up. Instead, it should seek to implement a baseline of funding that will allow each school to be sustainable in the long-term.'

Photo: Peter Titmuss/Shutterstock.com