A LEAKED report has revealed that more than 200 schools in Cumbria face a budget shortfall of up to £6,500 due to the government's decision not to renew a subsidy for free school meals.

The report reveals that small schools across the country will now be pushed into the red following the removal of a grant to help small primary provide meals.

All infant schools are given £2.30 per meal but it is argued that schools providing less than 100 meals a day need an additional subsidy to break even.

However earlier this year, the government decided to scrap an additional grant of £2,300 to help smaller schools make ends meet and without this supplement, 226 schools in Cumbria could face an annual shortfall of £6,500.

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP and leader of the Liberal Democrat party, Tim Farron, is disappointed by the report and says the government is "overlooking the needs" of small schools in places like Cumbria.

He said: “The government’s own report warned that removing the extra funding would leave schools in the red, yet the government has pressed ahead with the cuts anyway. It is no wonder the government has refused to release the report.

“I am very concerned that schools will have to dig in to teaching budgets in order to break even. The Conservatives have simply not considered the needs of small rural schools in places like Cumbria – this extra funding is essential as they simply don’t have the same economies of scale as schools elsewhere.

“The government must give our schools the funds needed to provide free school meals without being pushed into the red.”

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