The Department announced in June that in 2014-15 local authorities would continue in 2014-15 to have flexibility in deciding how to allocate the dedicated schools grant to schools in their area. For 2014-15 that flexibility has been extended to include a sparsity factor to allow local authorities to target funding at small rural schools without which pupils would have too far to travel to school. The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in June that we would consult on how best to introduce a national fair funding formula for schools. The consultation will include proposals on local flexibility for 2015-16 and will be published shortly.