A survey by NAHT Cymru showed more than half its members predict their schools will be in budget deficit this academic year
The Welsh Government has wasted scant education funds on “vanity projects” while schools are having to make cuts which damage children’s education. Dafydd Jones called on greater transparency about what money there is and where it goes.
The headteacher at Ysgol Melyd in Prestatyn, was speaking in his role as president of the National Association of Headteachers Cymru. He said money was wasted by the Welsh Government on the now ditched reform of the school year and the review of the school day.
“Spend money on the basics, not on those,” Mr Jones said, “I would like the Welsh Government to be more honest and transparent about where money goes. In England there has been extra money for education. It is about valuing public services.”
He said schools in Wales are making teachers and teaching assistants redundant, merging classes, cancelling trips and cutting all but “the basics” with budgets stretched to the limit. A survey by NAHT Cymru showed more than half its members (53%) predict their schools will be in budget deficit this academic year. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
Mr Jones warned that after previous budget cuts many schools have used up reserves, as requested, and are now “cutting to the bone”. One secondary school in Wales, which he did not want publicly named, faces a deficit of nearly £1m. while many primaries and secondaries face deficits of between tens and hundreds of thousands.
He said pressures have been caused by council funding to schools as well as grants not keeping pace with inflation. Schools have been hit by the rising cost of energy and other bills as well as paying to support a rise in children with complex needs. They have also been hit by cuts to external health services such as speech and language.
As a result schools are having to make savings with bigger class sizes, sometimes merging year groups. To cut costs they are also making teachers and teaching assistants redundant and not replacing staff when they leave. Extras, such as more support for those children who need it and school trips are also being slashed,
“Every headteacher would like more money but before we felt we could make a difference and now members are saying they do not have the tools to do the basics, let alone the extras,” said Mr Jones.
“A few schools still have reserves after Covid but reserves are a red herring. The academic, financial and calendar years don’t combine so that means some money always has to be held back.
“Schools have trimmed the fat and the extras. Enrichment in deprived areas is being cut and we are cutting into the bone of teaching and learning.”
The NAHT president will be among school leaders from Wales who will this week seek support from their counterparts in other parts of the UK to “help prevent children in their schools from being ‘short-changed” in where money for public services is being spent.
They will tell the NAHT’s annual conference in Harrogate this week that they fear additional funding received by the Welsh Government for education “is not being spent on schools or even anything related to education”.
This so-called ‘consequential’ money is triggered under the Barnett Formula by additional spending on education by the UK government, such as that announced in last autumn’s budget. NAHT Cymru says it has been unable to find out what , if any, extra funding the Welsh Government received following that budget is going to schools, despite lodging Freedom of Information requests with officials in Wales and England.
At the same time, many school leaders in Wales say they’re struggling to set budgets without making “unpalatable cuts” .
Dean Taylor, head teacher at Pentrepoeth Primary School in Bassaleg near Newport, will urge fellow union members at NAHT’s annual conference in Harrogate on Friday May 2 to agree to a motion calling for equity in education funding between England and Wales.
The motion says that, ‘education consequential funding should be ring-fenced for spending on education at Welsh Government and at local authority level, ensuring that children and young people in Wales are not short-changed’.
The motion calls on the union’s national executive to ‘use its bargaining and lobbying strength to ensure that all consequential funding received by Welsh Government as a result of additional education funding in England, is also spent on education in Wales, and that the distribution of this money is “on a transparent and equitable basis across Wales”.
The motion is seconded by Rebecca Penn, head teacher at Charles Williams Church in Wales Primary School in Caerleon near Newport.
Laura Doel, NAHT Cymru’s national secretary, said: “At a time when schools are contemplating deficit budgets, cutting pupil spending, and making staff redundant, they deserve answers from the Welsh Government about the destination of this extra funding.
“Without this transparency, there will inevitably be suspicions that this money is not finding its way to schools.
“If that is the case, it will be even harder for schools to provide the education children deserve.”
Another motion, proposed by Kerina Hanson, NAHT Cymru’s vice president, and head teacher at Pennard Primary School near Swansea, details how the union’s Swansea branch is urging its national executive to campaign for the reintroduction of the Small and Rural Schools Grant by the Welsh Government.
The motion says: “Small and rural schools are an integral part of the education system in Wales. For many communities across the nation, the school is the heart of that town and village.
‘The Welsh Government has a Community Schools Initiative to support such schools, but this sits at odds with the reality that small and rural schools are not fairly funded and valued.”
The final motion, proposed by NAHT president Dafydd Jones is on pay. His motion asks the union’s national executive to lobby the Welsh Government “to make good on its commitment to implementing the 26 recommendations of the Independent Welsh Pay Review Body last year”.
Asked whether teachers should lower their pay demands when budgets are so tight Mr Jones said teacher pay has been eroded over the last decade and more. At a time when there is a retainment and recruitment crisis, albeit when redundancies are also being made, it was vital to attract the best teachers with fair pay, he said.
The NAHT’s conference takes place from May 2 to May 3.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “To meet the needs of schools and learners, we are providing an extra £262.5m to the education sector, this is in addition to the increase in funding to local authorities to support public services, including schools. We will continue to work with the sector to ensure the best possible outcomes for our learners.”
The Welsh Government also said: “The Cabinet Secretary for Education confirmed last year that plans to change the school year will not happen this Senedd term to give teachers and staff space and time to deliver other reforms. Decisions on how to spend funding made available to the Welsh Government are made by Welsh ministers.”