MILLIONS of pounds are to be pumped into Hampshire schools but critics say the funding crisis is not over.

Primary and secondary schools in Southampton and across Hampshire are set to receive a £35m uplift next year.

The news comes as earlier this year the Prime Minister announced a £14bn boost to schools across the country between now and 2022-23.

Now schools in Hampshire have found out how much money they will receive from the first £2.6bn investment from central government.

According to the figures, in 2020-21 schools in Southampton will receive a total of £146.7m, £7.1m more than 2019-20.

Meanwhile, a total of £778.4m is expected to go to Hampshire schools in 2020-21, £28.6m more than 2019-20.

The Government said the biggest increases are going to the schools that need it most, with secondary schools attracting a minimum of £5,000 per pupil next year and primary schools receiving a minimum of £4,000 from 2021-22.

But school bosses and watchdogs said the funding crisis is not over.

The allocations present a mixed forecast for Hampshire schools, with some set to see a sharp increase while others could receive less than they did this year.

This is in part due to the method used to calculate the National Funding Formula (NFF),which includes a large section being based on the number of pupils at the schools on the most recent count, with an update due over the coming months.

The figures published by the Government revealed that some schools such as Hamble Primary School in Hamble, Sholing Junior School and Valentine Primary School in Southampton and Bishops Waltham Infant School would see more than 10% increase in funding.

But others such as Fawley Infant School in the New Forest could see a reduction of up to 10%.

Cllr Darren Paffey, cabinet member for aspiration, children and lifelong learning at Southampton City Council welcomed the funding.

But he added: “No-one should think this is some kind of windfall for schools. The money will go some way to restoring deficits which have built up because of government underfunding, and may also be swallowed up by the uplift to staff pay and pension contributions. The increase in real terms is unlikely to make a big difference because schools will still be stretched by ever increasing demands and government cuts to other services such as health and social care which then impact on our schools.”

As previously reported, earlier this year the city council reached an agreement with members of the National Education Union (NEU) at Valentine Primary School after school staff went on strike over claims the school had been told it needed to make significant additional cuts to budgets, which would have meant reductions to teachers and support staff.

Alan Whitehead MP for Southampton Test, inset, claims in his constituency schools have lost up to £658 per pupil in cuts since 2015.

“We need to come up with a long term funding plan for schools that fully reverse these cuts and implement a fair funding formula to ensure schools would not be left in this dire position again,”he said.

Most of the schools in the city are set to receive between one and 10% increase, with Redbridge Community School being one of those.

Headteacher Jason Ashley said: “Redbridge Community School is delighted that its school budget will see an increase of 6.5% in the next academic year and now is the right time to invest in our school given some years of real terms reductions in school funding. This new funding boost will allow us to continue to plan for the future with confidence and purpose so our students continue to get the very best equipment and staffing. However, we hope that the Department for Education continues to increase school budgets to compensate for the years where tough decisions and savings had to be made.”

Cllr Roz Chadd, executive member for education and skills at Hampshire County Council, said the authority will continue to work with the Department for Education and a representative group for headteachers.

She added: “We welcome the additional funding for Hampshire schools but are clear that, at this stage, the figures are indicative and subject to change in the light of updated pupil data. The money for high needs is also very welcome but we anticipate that this will only assist with the accrued deficits and will not meet current and future rising demands. Up until now we have aligned to the National Funding Formula as far as possible. However, we do have some concerns about the use of the minimum pupil levels as a method for calculating allocations and the impact of the pay pledge to increase the starting salary of teachers to £30,000.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Lecturers, said: “The extra money for schools is not enough to reverse the cuts and the funding crisis is not over. We need an uplift for all schools which restores funding levels to where they were before the cuts began to bite and which keeps pace with costs.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said "it is very clear that there will still be winners and losers".

Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson recognised the pressures schools have faced.

He added: “Our schools do a brilliant job and I want parents and teachers to know that we’ve listened to them and are investing in our children’s futures. That’s why this Government has announced the biggest funding boost for schools in a decade which will give every school more money for every child - with the biggest increases going to the schools that need it most.”

The Government said schools will also receive an extra £4.4billion over three years to cover rising pension costs.

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “This investment will give schools, teachers and parents the certainty to plan, helping further improve standards and ensure our children and young people get a truly world-class education.I promised on my first day in Downing Street to make sure every child has equal opportunities to succeed – regardless of their background or where they live. Because I believe that talent and genius is evenly distributed but so often opportunity is not, and my job is to change this. We’re already delivering on this promise with schools receiving more than £14 billion additional funding over the next three years, meaning every pupil in every school will get more money, and funding across the country will be levelled up.”

Schools in the South East will receive an extra £282m from April.