West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has today welcomed moves by the Department of Education to move towards a fairer funding regime for rural schools. The announcement, by Education Minister David Laws, follows years of campaigning by Harriett on behalf of her rural school network. The Minister has rethought plans and local authorities will now be able to directly help rural schools which were threatened by budget cutbacks next year with additional funding. And he also pledged to move towards a fairer funding model for all schools. Worcestershire pupils receive one of the lowest funding amounts in England and Harriett has lobbied on behalf of the f40 pressure group in Westminster to redress this imbalance. David Laws commented: "I heard concerns from colleagues on two fronts. First, that we should do more to move towards a national funding formula, so that schools are funded on a fair and consistent basis. "Second, that there have been a small number of unintended consequences which need to be addressed. "The most significant change I will be introducing is a new optional sparsity factor for 2014. "The review has demonstrated strong support for this from rural authorities as it will enable authorities to target additional funding to small rural schools." Harriett added: "Over the last nine months I have met with many primary and secondary schools concerned by the impact of funding changes. "Some of the very small rural primary schools feared that they may have to close or merge and several schools have taken the time to write to me setting out their concerns. "Along with my county colleagues, we were able to speak up for Worcestershire in a debate on school funding and I am delighted that the Minister has taken note of our concerns and acted. "There is still much to do, to make sure that Worcestershire receives a better funding deal but I welcome the fact that the Government is listening."