:00:11. > :00:14.Teacher's unions claim that a government plan to change the way
:00:15. > :00:17.schools are funded could mean the region's schools will face
:00:18. > :00:20.Hundreds of headteachers have joined a major campaign
:00:21. > :00:26.In Devon, the county council says almost two thirds of children
:00:27. > :00:30.will lose out if the fairer funding formula gets the go ahead.
:00:31. > :00:34.With the details here's our political reporter, Anna Varle.
:00:35. > :00:38.It's never too young to get engaged in current affairs.
:00:39. > :00:41.But this school is amongst hundreds across the region which is taking
:00:42. > :00:45.politics out of the classroom and direct to Westminster.
:00:46. > :00:51.In Devon, pupils like me are currently worth ?290 less
:00:52. > :00:58.To make it fairer, the government is looking at changing
:00:59. > :01:06.What we're trying to do is make sure that every single child,
:01:07. > :01:09.wherever they're growing up in England gets the same amount
:01:10. > :01:12.of funding, with then top up in relation to additional needs,
:01:13. > :01:15.whether it's in relation to deprivation, which has been based
:01:16. > :01:18.on out of date data up until now, or indeed additional funding
:01:19. > :01:21.But Devon County Council is one local authority which has
:01:22. > :01:26.And it says, far from being better off, 61.9%
:01:27. > :01:32.Why should a Devon child be worth that much less than somebody
:01:33. > :01:38.The government's got to do something about it.
:01:39. > :01:40.Unions claim the formula, coupled with increasing
:01:41. > :01:43.costs such as inflation, could lead to the region's schools
:01:44. > :01:46.being ?105 million worse off in the next three years.
:01:47. > :01:54.Which will result in fewer teachers and larger class sizes.
:01:55. > :01:57.That's why headteachers across Devon and Cornwall are sending out letters
:01:58. > :02:00.to parents asking them to get involved and write to their MP.
:02:01. > :02:04.You can't sit there and say that it's the school's job to do
:02:05. > :02:08.Your children go over, so you've got a bit of a responsibility
:02:09. > :02:11.to make sure you support the school your children go to.
:02:12. > :02:13.The more pressure we put on, hopefully the more
:02:14. > :02:16.Even Devon's Tory MPs are threatening to oppose
:02:17. > :02:22.If these proposals are adopted, we're going to have 15
:02:23. > :02:24.primary schools gaining, 20 losing out, and all the secondary
:02:25. > :02:28.This is clearly neither fair nor acceptable.
:02:29. > :02:32.The government says that under this new formula,
:02:33. > :02:36.schools in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset will benefit.
:02:37. > :02:44.The consultation runs until the 22nd of March,
:02:45. > :02:46.and it's keen to hear from parents, schools, governors -
:02:47. > :02:55.And Sunday Politics is on at 11.00am on Sunday morning here on BBC One,
:02:56. > :03:06.with guests Peregrine Mears, Sheryl Murray and Gareth Derrick.
:03:07. > :03:11.How have we arrived at the situation where some schools say they will
:03:12. > :03:14.have left? Who does vary from one local
:03:15. > :03:19.authority to another and also from one school to another. Some think
:03:20. > :03:23.that overall they will gain from the changes but of course there will be
:03:24. > :03:29.winners and losers between individual schools. A similar
:03:30. > :03:35.situation in Somerset. Devon has historically been one of the worst
:03:36. > :03:40.funded authorities in the country and it clearly feels that overall it
:03:41. > :03:44.will emerge even worse off if these proposals go through and one Devon
:03:45. > :03:49.MP said in Parliament recently after all of the years of campaigning, to
:03:50. > :03:53.get this situation changed, to get a fairer result as they see it in
:03:54. > :03:57.Devon, nobody really anticipated that when the James finally
:03:58. > :04:02.happened, coming out the other side with Devon being worse off. Devon is
:04:03. > :04:07.far from alone. There are lots of very angry MPs in Westminster from
:04:08. > :04:11.other rural parts of the country that say when you add up the figures
:04:12. > :04:13.schools in their areas are going to be worse off as well.
:04:14. > :04:16.Thank you very much for joining us. And Sunday Politics is on at 11.00am
:04:17. > :04:19.on Sunday morning here on BBC One, with guests Peregrine Mears,
:04:20. > :04:24.Sheryl Murray and Gareth Derrick. A swan has been killed in Exeter
:04:25. > :04:27.in what police say appears The body of the swan was found
:04:28. > :04:32.earlier this week and the news has shocked and angered people
:04:33. > :04:34.who regularly visit and feed them. The birds are a protected species
:04:35. > :04:38.and it's illegal to harm them. If it is, you know,
:04:39. > :04:41.a person that has done this, It does unfortunately happen
:04:42. > :04:47.to swans, swans do get attacked and of course
:04:48. > :04:49.it is against the law. All wild birds in the UK
:04:50. > :04:52.are protected under the wildlife countryside act so if people do see
:04:53. > :04:55.any crime against birds, please, Tomorrow's football could provide
:04:56. > :05:00.what's been described by some as the biggest Devon Derby ever
:05:01. > :05:03.between Plymouth Argyle While Argyle may be nine points
:05:04. > :05:09.ahead of their rivals, the Grecians are in top form,
:05:10. > :05:14.having won their last seven games. We have to get the balance right
:05:15. > :05:20.between being overconfident and not. Somewhere in the middle
:05:21. > :05:22.is what is best. I think we have earned
:05:23. > :05:28.the opportunity to be optimistic, but we have got
:05:29. > :05:31.to be really careful. Always a derby match is a special
:05:32. > :05:37.occasion for the whole area. And for a manager and players,
:05:38. > :05:40.it is no different. There will be a full house
:05:41. > :05:44.here tomorrow and both sets of supporters and
:05:45. > :05:47.players are ready for it. And there'll be full commentary
:05:48. > :05:52.of that match on BBC Radio Devon. The colour of our weather
:05:53. > :05:59.at the moment is definitely blue. A widespread frost overnight tonight
:06:00. > :06:03.and a bitterly cold day tomorrow We are importing some
:06:04. > :06:06.pretty low temperatures The weather front trapped
:06:07. > :06:10.in the flow introducing thick enough cloud for a few
:06:11. > :06:11.wintry showers. Some overnight tonight,
:06:12. > :06:14.but not many, and enough clear skies to get those temperatures fairly
:06:15. > :06:18.low, down as low as minus two So a frost first thing tomorrow
:06:19. > :06:23.morning and the best of the sunshine across the more western parts
:06:24. > :06:26.of our region, certainly Cornwall Further east there is quite thick
:06:27. > :06:30.cloud and capable of producing some sleet or snow showers
:06:31. > :06:35.during the day. Some of us getting away with some
:06:36. > :06:38.sunny spells but look at the temperatures,
:06:39. > :06:40.no more than three or four degrees With that cold wind as well
:06:41. > :06:44.it is going to feel bitterly cold. And that cold wind again is with us
:06:45. > :06:48.on Sunday but there is a pool of slightly less cold air
:06:49. > :06:50.across southern parts of France and gradually that
:06:51. > :06:52.will move northwards, not on Sunday though,
:06:53. > :06:54.Sunday is another cold day and another very blustery day
:06:55. > :06:58.with a high wind chill. By the time we get into Tuesday
:06:59. > :07:01.and more especially Wednesday of next week then we start to see
:07:02. > :07:03.temperatures come back. Monday could well be a bright
:07:04. > :07:07.and dry and windy day but at least the temperatures
:07:08. > :07:09.are starting to recover. Double figures by the time we get
:07:10. > :07:12.to Tuesday and Wednesday. There'll be more from the Spotlight
:07:13. > :07:17.team, at the earlier time And don't forget, full coverage
:07:18. > :07:35.of the big Devon Derby exception to that rule probably over
:07:36. > :07:37.the hills where again there could be a bit of snow, but not accumulating.
:07:38. > :07:46.Another cold However I paint this weekend's
:07:47. > :07:50.picture, I'll need a palette of grey. Thereby a a lot of cloud
:07:51. > :07:56.around but I managed to find some sunshine. I don't know how but there
:07:57. > :07:59.was a couple of hours towards the south-west in Cornwall, a beautiful
:08:00. > :08:04.day. The south-west saw glimpses of sunshine. Further east, cloudy, cold
:08:05. > :08:09.and grey with winds off the North seep and a scattering of wintry
:08:10. > :08:11.showers. Yes, rain sleet and snow, a dusting at lower levels through the
:08:12. > :08:12.day. It