Suzy Davies AM:...The Association of School and College
Leaders blame the non-hypothecation of schools funding, as you
know. What I see is an increasing tendency to bypass the RSG route
because you don't trust councils enough to spend enough of what you
do give them for schools, and you can't face the fight. But
steering funding through centralised grants and consortia isn't
going down well either. It's beginning to look like that...Request free trial
:...The Association of School and College
Leaders blame the non-hypothecation of schools
funding, as you know. What I see is an increasing tendency to
bypass the RSG route because you don't trust councils enough
to spend enough of what you do give them for schools, and you
can't face the fight. But steering funding through
centralised grants and consortia isn't going down well
either. It's beginning to look like that established Welsh
Government tactic of regionalisation by stealth. Consortia
direct the spending of £230 million. Local authorities are
top-slicing their school budgets to contribute towards that.
The pupil development grant, which I think is a valuable
idea, turns out not to have narrowed the attainment gap in
the way we first thought. And that £139 million for school
improvement—well, I'm not going to rehearse the whole of
yesterday's debate, I made the point that the various forms
of evaluation don't tally and don't result in
persistently failing schools getting better. So, that £230
million seems to be an awful lot of money for the very little
in achievement...
... The ASCL has calculated that £450 million from the
Government's education budget, which could go to schools,
doesn't get to them through any route, whether to fulfil your
own priorities or theirs. And you told us, Minister, in July,
that you were looking into precisely this concern about money
getting held up in local authorities or consortia and not
getting to schools. The National Education Union Cymru says
it's time to call time on the consortia. I think it's time
you shared your findings of that work with us to see whether
we agree with the NEU...
AM:...Figures from the Association of School and College
Leaders demonstrate that the school
improvement consortium retains £40 million, which
doesn't, therefore, reach our schools, at a time when
schools are being underfunded. This is simply
unacceptable. It isn’t right that vital funding is
being kept back when schools across Wales have to
cope with smaller budgets. Indeed, the National
Association of Head Teachers in Wales has questioned
whether the regional consortia are providing value
for money, stating that, I quote:
Over the past few years, schools have faced significant
cuts, especially in terms of lower levels of delegated
funds, as a result of multilayered governance in Wales...
(Oscar) AM:
...Only last week, the Association of School and College
Leaders Cymru wrote to the Minister for
Education. In this letter, they expressed their frustration
and dismay about the severe funding crisis in Welsh schools
and the detrimental effect it is having on young pupils and
people. They highlighted the effect the funding crisis is
having on the Welsh Government action plan, and they quote
‘Education in Wales: Our national mission’...
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