More cash is promised for '˜underfunded' schools

But Barnsley East MP Michael Dugher said he will believe the extra funding for education when he sees it, following the admission from the government that the borough has been short-changed for years, compared to some other areas.

According to the Department for Education, schools in Barnsley look set to gain, while the funding per pupil will be cut in areas like Manchester and Liverpool under current plans.

Mr Dugher warned that the Government would have to live up to the promise of more education funds for Barnsley after years of Government cuts to local services.

Despite Barnsley’s greater needs, the council has seen bigger cuts imposed on local services such as children’s centres and libraries than wealthier parts of the country.

Plans outlined by Ms Greening show more than 9,000 schools in England will lose funding as cash is switched from major urban areas to schools that have received less cash.

Details of which areas will win and lose under the plan to end the “postcode lottery” of school funding were revealed in the Department for Education’s second consultation on its national funding formula. The document said: “We need to ensure the system for distributing this funding is fair. Similar schools and local areas receive unjustifiably different levels of funding right across the country.”

Teaching unions warned that even the so-called winners were likely to see their gains outweighed by cuts in real terms of up to eight per cent to their funding over the next three years.