The Government’s plan to spend £320m on 140 new grammar and ‘free’ schools in England, is a waste of money at the same time as it is cutting funding to Cornwall’s existing schools, say Cornwall’s Liberal Democrats on the announcement in yesterday’s Budget.

The LibDems say that from 2015 to 2020, the Conservative Government is cutting more than £26m from Cornwall’s education budgets, which is a cut of more than £400 per pupil across Cornwall and is the equivalent of more than 700 teachers in Cornwall.

Cornwall Council opposes proposals to bring back Grammar Schools. In a motion passed in November, it said: ’They are divisive, likely to damage the education prospects of less well-off children and lead to a downgrading of remaining schools.’

Cllr Adam Paynter, deputy leader of Cornwall Council and leader of the Lib Dem group, said: ’Existing local schools and colleges in Cornwall have shown that they can give an excellent education for the young people of Cornwall. They need to be supported, and not undermined by moves like this from the Conservative government.’