Councillor Lorna Reith, cabinet member for children

Haringey schools are set to get millions more in funding after campaigners won a long-running battle with the government.

The Department for Education (DfE) has finally agreed to recognise Haringey as an “inner London borough”, which means schools funding will be in line with neighbours like Camden, Hackney and Islington.

Up until now Haringey has been considered “outer London” for funding, despite the fact teachers had to be paid inner city wages.

Haringey’s schools are now set to benefit from substantial additional funding from 2013/14, although the precise figure is yet to be confirmed by the DfE.

The decision, announced on Monday, was welcomed by campaigners including schools, local MPs, the council and trade unions.

Tottenham MP David Lammy - who has spoken extensively on the subject - said: “This is excellent news for Haringey’s young people and for everyone that campaigned for fair funding for our schools.

“Finally there is recognition that Haringey has inner London problems that cannot be solved on the cheap with outer London funding.”

Cllr Lorna Reith, cabinet member for children at Haringey Council, said it was “great news”.

She said: “Our teachers cost the same as inner London schools and the challenges our schools face are also the same. We have been saying all along that it is only right and proper our schools are funded accordingly.”

But Cllr Reith added the council believed the Government should have acted earlier to correct the “quirk” in the system.

The DfE defended the “taking the time to do [the changes] properly”.

A spokesman added: “It’s wrong that schools in different parts of the country are funded at wildly varying levels despite having very similar pupils from the same backgrounds.

“We are fixing the system to make it fairer for all and easier to understand who gets what and why. These changes will lay the foundations for a full national funding formula.”