Extract from Wales Assembly: Questions to the Minister for Education - Mar 13

Thursday, 14 March 2019 07:30

Hefin David AM: Last week, I hosted a drop-in event for Assembly Members on behalf of various teaching unions, including the National Education Union. Teachers who attended told me that they were concerned that cuts in UK Government funding are having a direct impact on their ability to implement the education reforms, including, for example, the Additional...Request free trial

Hefin David AM: Last week, I hosted a drop-in event for Assembly Members on behalf of various teaching unions, including the National Education Union. Teachers who attended told me that they were concerned that cuts in UK Government funding are having a direct impact on their ability to implement the education reforms, including, for example, the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018. They argue that the school funding formula needs to be more equitable and reflect current challenges. And in your response to the Conservatives' debate on this subject, you acknowledged that how schools are funded can actually be quite confusing, and you indicated that you're not opposed in principle to the funding formula being changed. That's to be welcomed and, with that in mind, would you now commit to a regular and ongoing dialogue with local authorities, regional consortia, the teaching unions and the teaching profession in order to look at how these issues can be addressed, and how we can make the most of these difficult circumstances in the face of ongoing austerity?

Kirsty Williams AM (Minister for Education): Of course, Hefin, that dialogue continues every day in my department. Only last week, senior officials of the education department were meeting with the Association of School and College Leaders to discuss with them their concerns. I continue to challenge both regional consortia and local authorities with regard to ensuring that as much money as possible reaches the front line of our education system in individual schools. And I am always open to discussions as to how best we can ensure that more money makes it into individual school budgets.

Leanne Wood AM: In the words of the Association of School and College Leaders, there is a 'severe funding crisis' in schools, which is having a 'detrimental effect...on...young people.' Those are direct quotes from them. This comes at the same time as a report by the children's commissioner, Sally Holland, last week, who said

'Financial demands are flying at families from all sorts of angles and it's the children who pay the price when their parents can't keep up with the costs.'

She added

'If we're serious about levelling the playing field and giving all children an equal opportunity to learn and grow, we need Welsh Government to show real ambition and leadership in helping the thousands of families across Wales who are really struggling.'

I've raised the school meals threshold with you on a number of occasions. Do you recognise the picture painted by these two impartial and expert sources? If you do, when can we expect to see this real ambition and leadership from this Labour Government to help struggling families and also to ensure that struggling schools get the funding gap plugged that they need to deliver good-quality education services to our children?

Kirsty Williams AM: I absolutely recognise the challenges that the children's commissioner report paints. That's why, as I said, next year we will have £5 million to spend on PDG access. So, for the first time, this year, parents have been able to get support for uniform and equipment when their child starts school and when their child transitions through to high school. I am currently looking at whether we can expand further opportunities for parents in other parts of their chid's career to be able to access support. Meanwhile, our consultation on school uniform, to make sure that the guidance around affordability of school uniform is put on a statutory footing, which it has not been until now, has recently concluded, and I hope that will be in place before the start of the new academic year. At the end of last year, I commissioned Children in Wales to produce a series of guidance notes and support packages to schools so that they can better understand and they can help guide their decisions with regard to the cost of the school day. The guides will be stand-alone resources and they will cover an understanding of the causes and the impact of living in poverty, the impact of food and hunger, school uniform resources, and out-of-school activities. We are increasing the money available to local authorities to support our school holiday enrichment programme, so that all local authorities, hopefully, this summer will provide support for families during the school holiday process, and with regard to free school meals, thousands more children will be eligible for free school meals under the new regime, and a significant amount of additional resource has been made available to pay for those meals.

Siân Gwenllian AM: To help with that discussion, therefore, may I suggest that there are a number of questions that you and the education department within Government could be asking? Are there too many layers in our education system? Do these create unnecessary bureaucracy? Is there too much duplication of work? And is that a good use of the scarce funding in the education pot? For example, are there too many bodies supporting schools? Do we need to tighten up the system substantially? Another question that should be asked is whether there is a better way of funding sixth forms in schools. Another for your consideration, if you would: could we hasten the process of distributing funding from the Welsh Government, avoiding financial announcements being made very late in the day? I do look forward to having a constructive discussion in light of this important committee inquiry.

Kirsty Williams AM: The Member is absolutely right to look at whether there is duplication. I am frustrated to read from ASCL and to discuss with ASCL some of their concerns, for instance, of a duplication of roles, functions and spending from the regional consortia and individual local education authorities. Of course, regional consortia are run by local councils—they are the stakeholders, they hold the managing directors to account—and therefore it seems to me very concerning that in that governance arrangement they would allow for a duplication of spend across their own local authority and their regional consortia. So, I want to reassure the Member that we are constantly challenging LEAs and regional consortia around issues around delegation.