TORFAEN Assembly Member Lynne Neagle says schools in her area are losing vital education funding to those in more prosperous parts of Wales - and she wants to know why.

Ms Neagle said schools in Torfaen will receive just £90 per pupil through the GEST formula - a £60 million budget from the Assembly - while Gwynedd, Powys and Ceredigion will get nearly £130 per pupil.

The GEST (Grants for Education Support and Training) fund is used to help schools in greatest need raise their standards and tackle problems such as: * pupil disaffection; * bad behaviour; * and truancy. But figures released this week show that Torfaen will receive £1,593,000 for 2003 to 2004, amounting to the lowest allocation per pupil in Wales.

Ms Neagle has tabled a written question to Assembly Education Minister Jane Davidson asking why this is the case.

She said there was still an inequality in the funding despite a review of the way the money is allocated, promising to ensure that those areas in greatest need would receive greater funding.

"It is totally unacceptable that schools in Torfaen are losing out on their fair share of this £60 million fund," she said.

"The way it works is a complete distortion of what the fund was supposed to do. It was supposed to allocate money to schools where there is the most urgent need to raise standards, but actually it does the complete opposite.

"It actually allocates more funding per pupil to the most prosperous rural areas of Wales. These areas already do better educationally and do not face the same challenges of deprivation that many communities in Torfaen do.

"I have tabled a question to the minister about this matter and I hope that she will listen to my concerns and that she will look again at the way the formula works."

A review of the GEST Fund was completed in 2001 and will be phased in by the year 2004 to 2005.