In July I held a meeting in Parliament for local Reading school heads to put the case for increased school funding to the Schools Minister.

So I am delighted that the Prime Minister has announced that we are boosting schools funding in the UK with an extra £14 billion, levelling up per pupil funding across the country so every child has a world class education.

We should not accept the idea that there can be winners or losers when it comes to our children’s futures. That’s why we are providing additional funding now and for the future for every school, with those historically underfunded receiving the greatest increase.

The Government has also pledged to meet the £4.5 billion requirement for teachers’ pensions from outside the education budget. This means that every penny of the extra £14 billion will go straight to schools and delivering the best educational outcomes for our children.

The funding boost will mean that in every part of the country, next year every school will see a real terms rise in their funding. Every secondary school will receive an increased minimum of £5,000 per pupil next year and every primary school will get a minimum of £3,750 from 2020-21 and £4,000 per pupil from 2021-22.

There will also be £700 million extra for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in 2020-21, so every pupil can access the education that is right for them, and none are held back from reaching their potential.

Under the Conservatives we’ve seen more children getting a better education. There has been a dramatic improvement in children’s reading making sure they are prepared for their future. England has risen to joint eighth place in the 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, up from joint tenth in 2011 and the historic low of 19th under Labour.

In Reading, as at December 2018, 77% of children now attend schools rated good or outstanding, compared to 59% in 2010 when I was elected. Following the net loss of 100,000 school places across the country in the six years of the last Labour Government up to 2010, in Reading almost 7,000 places have been added. This includes the establishment of several Free Schools, two of which, the Wren School and All Saints Junior, where I worked with local parents and teachers to set up the schools.