By Paul Dicken
Council leaders in Wales have insisted they should make spending decisions on education after a report recommended direct funding of schools.
Council leaders in Wales have insisted they should make spending decisions on education after a report recommended direct funding of schools.The National Union of Teachers Cymru published the April 10 report before its annual conference in Cardiff. It argued that direct costs – including such items as teachers’ pay and learning materials – be funded nationally. Other ‘indirect’ costs, such as for premises and administration, should be covered locally.
The report, by consultant John Atkins, said direct funding could ensure that all the money allocated to education in Wales would be spent on education. According to Atkins’ research, 14 authorities are spending less on education than they are allocated.
But the Welsh Local Government Association denied this. ‘In recent years, it has been shown that, across Wales, local authorities have spent over the amount that is allocated by the Welsh Assembly Government and have prioritised education in local spending plans,’ it said in a statement.
It was essential that councils maintained their democratic role of making policy and spending decisions based on local circumstances and priorities, it added. Differences in funding between areas were for ‘legitimate local reasons’, the statement said.
The local government leaders called on the WAG to continue implementing the recommendations of the 2006 National Assembly school funding committee report.
‘It is essential that the complex process of funding local government and education is made accessible, which was one of the main recommendations in the school funding report,’ they added.
The NUT Cymru report said that the current funding system for schools was defective. Despite an average spend of 8% more per head on public services in Wales compared with England, less than 1% went to the education service.
NUT Cymru general secretary David Evans said: ‘Little has been done to redress the balance and education in Wales continues to suffer as a result.’
The WLGA said that the fact that Welsh schools received £496 less funding per pupil than England was ‘a concern for local government within the context of increasingly difficult financial settlements from the Welsh Assembly Government’.
