SIR Oliver Letwin, Member of Parliament for West Dorset, met with leaders at a Dorchester school to discuss issues regarding school funding.

Helen Collings, Headteacher at Broadmayne First School, said: "We had an interesting meeting, discussing many of the school's concerns around funding and school support.

"Oliver was knowledgeable about local issues and we discussed at length what might be happening in the future for school funding, both nationally and more locally.

"He met with myself, the Chairman of the Governors Peter Knell and the Vice Chairman of the Governors Suzi Watters. We spoke about the problems of being a small village school, and our concerns about the future for schools such as ours."

Sir Letwin said: “From my point of view, it was a useful meeting, because it gave me an opportunity to hear about a series of issues relating to school funding that have been affecting this particular school.

"Although some of these issues are being resolved, the meeting reinforced my impression that we need both a further adjustment in the national funding formula and an increase in the proportion of overall taxpayer spending that we devote to schools.”