A former grammar school governor has backed a headteacher’s concerns over education funding and called on MPs to tackle the issue.

Businessman Noel Kelleway, a former governor at Westcliff High School for Boys, spoke out in support of Robin Bevan, headteacher of Southend High School for Boys who this week revealed his school is £1million a year worse off due to a lack of Government funding.

Mr Kelleway, from Leigh, said: “It may be unusual for an Old Westcliffian to support the position of the headteacher of Southend High School for Boys but I am totally behind the remarks made by Robin Bevan.

“It is not just grammar schools which have seen cuts to their funding but all schools and colleges. The Government has selected education, along with health service pay and the police, as a soft target and year on year has reduced spending in this area on a per capita basis.”

Mr Kelleway said despite claims that more is being spent on education by the Government, the increase in population had not been taken into account.

In response to Mr Bevan’s comments in a Facebook video for the National Education Union, Sir David Amess, MP for Southend West said he was optimistic schools would have fair funding.

James Duddridge, Conservative MP for Rochford and Southend East said he was “deeply disappointed that Mr Bevan had used his role to politicise the school”. However, Mr Kelleway said MPs should be looking for a solution to the problem rather than criticising those who have concerns.

He said: “I find the responses of our elected MPs churlish and predictable. I can see nothing political in Mr Bevan’s remarks, he is merely commenting on the fact that his paymaster has reduced his funding. This is not a political statement but a fact.

“Sadly, I do not see any comment from Mr Duddridge as to what he is going to do to address the issue of funding cuts. If Sir David Amess really wants to ensure that our schools have proper and fair funding, apart from being optimistic, what is he doing about the issue?”

Mr Kelleway added: “Children are our future and they deserve a high class and well-funded education system, not a political football which means that we are spending less per head on our children in 2018 than we were in 2008.”

Neither MP provided a comment in response.