On 3rd November, the Secretary of State for Education Mr. Michael Gove confirmed details of the additional £500 million made available, this year, to local authorities experiencing the greatest need in managing shortfalls in pupil places.  Sutton Borough has been allocated £12million out of this additional funding, apparently one of the highest sums of any council in England.  Sutton thus received the 11^th largest cash boost out of 110 authorities. Recently significant expansion plans have been announced at a number of local primary schools in Carshalton including All Saints’ School, Rotherfield Road in Carshalton Village (see our earlier web site postings) and Barrow Hedges School, Carshalton Beeches.  The school expansion plans reflect the rapidly rising birth rate locally.  For details click on: http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/xls/a/2011%2012%20allocations%20to%20local%20authorities.xls

Tom Brake, local Lib Dem MP for Carshalton and Wallington, expressed his delight at the further injection of money into Sutton’s education budget: “This boost to local funding has been a long time coming. It will help provide many more places in Sutton’s really popular schools. The money will help address an issue raised with me by numerous constituents; their difficulty in getting a local school. Hopefully this problem will now be rectified.”