Clegg's Pupil Premium promise of fairness will ring hollow

Hull North MP Diana Johnson has questioned today's announcement on the 'Pupil Premium' by Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

Diana Johnson MP said: "This announcement, a few days before the Spending Review, has all the hallmarks of a hasty move to take the pressure off Mr Clegg.

"Mr Clegg may be talking a lot about social mobility and fairness, but students from poorer backgrounds will be wondering why he supported tuition fee hikes on Tuesday, or putting VAT up to 20%. Much of this announcement sounds good superficially, but it may turn out to be too good to be true. We will be looking very closely at the detail of the Spending Review to see where this money is coming from.

"After abandoning the Lib Dem pledge on tuition fees, a promise made in full knowledge of the economic situation, Mr Clegg is desperate to show that he has stayed true to his flagship 'pupil premium' policy.

"The Lib Dem manifesto said that the pupil premium would be 'additional money' and the Coalition Agreement said it would be funded 'from outside the schools budget'. If it turns out that he is taking money from elsewhere in the schools budget, robbing Peter to pay Paul, it will be yet another Lib Dem broken promise. Clegg's claims to 'fairness' will ring hollow.

"I am sceptical that this modest amount of Pupil Premium funding will compensate for cuts elsewhere in the schools budget and for many other Con Dem measures, such as ending the Child Trust Fund, that will hit the poorest children in areas such as Hull the hardest."

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