Education will take centre stage at next week’s Devon County Council elections.

And the candidates for the Kingsbridge division have been providing contrasting opinions as to how best to improve schools in the area.

The Labour Party candidate for the Kingsbridge division, Gerrie Messer has described

the election in May as “very important for the future of education in Kingsbridge”.

Ms Messer strongly supports her party’s pledge to provide free school meals for all primary pupils, and she has claimed that about 500 primary school pupils in Kingsbridge would benefit from the policy. The party has said it will fund the policy by introducing VAT on private school fees, and it "will benefit the educational attainment and health of all children, while ending a subsidy to the privileged few".

But incumbent Liberal Democrat councillor Julian Brazil has described the policy as akin to “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” And Josh Gardner, the Conservative candidate has drawn attention to numbers that state 300,000 more pupils in the south west “are being educated in good or outstanding schools since Labour left office”.

Labour cites research by the National Centre for Social Research and the Institute for Fiscal Studies showing universal access to free school meals improves educational attainment, enabling primary school pupils to advance by around two months on average. It also says school meals are a healthier option than packed lunches, containing more fruit and vegetables on average.

Conservative candidate Mr Gardner said: "Nationally, the government has protected the schools budget in real terms since 2010 and funding is at its highest level on record at more than £40bn in 2016-17.

"I have joined Conservative councillors across Devon in signing a petition asking for fairer funding for our schools and if elected I will continue to campaign hard on this issue to ensure we get a good deal in Kingsbridge.

"It is important to note that almost 1.8m more pupils are being educated in good or outstanding schools since Labour left office in 2010, including 300,000 in the south west.

"Only the Conservatives have a plan for Britain, which includes providing a good school place for every child so they have the opportunity to go as far as their talents will take them, no matter what their background.”

Labour candidate Ms Messer said: "Kingsbridge is fortunate that all its primary schools are currently rated good or outstanding by OFSTED. The Labour Party wants to see all children get the maximum benefit from the high standard of our schools and this is why we have pledged to invest in free school meals for all primary school children.

"At the moment all Key Stage 1 children are eligible for free school meals which is all children up to the age of seven. Labour’s new policy extends that to include all eight, nine, 10 and 11 year olds. I think it’s so important the Government helps schools to deliver better and better education to our children and am delighted this new policy could potentially benefit 500 primary school children in and around Kingsbridge.

"There is a clear difference between Labour and the Conservatives. Labour has a clear approach to improve our schools. For example we have pledged to stop the Conservative plans for expansion of grammar schools which means more resources go to our state schools, and also to improve early years provision whereas the Conservatives have closed Sure Start Centres and won’t provide funding to ensure parents can take up nursery places.

"The upcoming Devon County Council elections are very important for the future of children’s education in Kingsbridge and across Devon. I will be fighting alongside my fellow Labour candidates on key issues like education so that ordinary residents voices are heard.”

Liberal Democrat Cllr Brazil said: “With the Liberal Democrat policy of the ‘pupil premium’, resources were targeted at disadvantaged pupils, but with the education cuts, and inflation, the spend per pupil is going down. Many schools are now using the pupil premium to prop up school budgets.

“Kingsbridge offers fantastic education, with Kingsbridge Community College one of the greatest schools, not just in Devon but across the whole of the UK.

“Education is fundamentally important for the whole country - we want our young people to be well-educated and well-trained.

“But I’m not in favour of taxing education at all. The idea of introducing VAT to private school fees is like robbing Peter to pay Paul. It is a vindictive attack on private schools. There are many people in Devon who send their children to private schools.

“I want to see all schools improve, rather than pulling the standards of the top schools down which could make private schools even more exclusive and only for the super-rich.”