HERFORDSHIRE Council is among a group of local authorities who have written to the government asking for more funding to help deal with the impact of coronavirus on schools.

The county council is a member of the f40, a group made up of 42 local authorities who receive among the lowest funding for education in England.

The f40 wrote to Department for Education last month about the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on schools and education funding.

MORE NEWS Covid-19 vaccine will be safe, say Herefordshire health experts

Cabinet member children and families Felicity Norman said: “Herefordshire Council already receives among the lowest funding for education per pupil compared with other areas of the country, and the impact of Covid-19 means that these budgets are being stretched even further.

“Schools are continuing to operate extremely well despite the huge extra demands on their time and resources caused by the pandemic.

“To help keep our educational settings covid-safe schools have had to introduce a wide range of measures including but not limited to additional teaching staff, additional resources so pupils do not need to share, and additional toilet and handwashing facilities.

“Not all additional expenditure will be able to be reclaimed from government.

“We endorse the emphasis on swift and available test and trace measures for all education settings and staff since so much emphasis is being placed nationally on these settings and schools remaining open.

“However, again, this needs to be resourced.

“Councils across the country are currently setting their budgets for next year. In Herefordshire we expect this to be very challenging with difficult decisions to be made.

“We therefore welcome the support of f40 in demanding clarity on education funding asking that we receive a level of funding in line with other parts of the country, to ensure that our young people have the brightest possible future.”