‘Poorer pupils losing out as schools suffer budget cuts’
THE huge sums given to schools to help deprived pupils have been detailed in a National Assembly report that has heavily criticised how the money is spent.
Schools get £1,150 extra for every pupil aged five to 15 who is eligible for free school meals.
That is equivalent to schools receiving nearly 25% extra for every less-well-off pupil. According to Stats Wales, the average amount schools get per pupil in a year is £4,740 .
In total, the policy costs the Welsh Government £94m every year. The aim is to cut the gulf in exam achievement between pupils on free school meals and wealthier pupils.
But AMs on the Committee for Children, Young People and Education said the funds were just being used by schools to plug gaps in their funding caused by spending cuts.
The committee said it was told the grant – and other targeted funding – is “masking pressures on schools’ budgets and is no longer considered an extra resource, but is part of core funding”.
It cited an report by education watchdog Estyn which said one in three schools are not using the Pupil Development Grant effectively as intended.
The committee’s comments, in a report published on June 20, come as schools across Wales face squeezed budgets, teacher job losses and cuts.
Late last year the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Cymru warned that most schools in Wales are “struggling to make ends meet” and the Welsh Government’s education budget is not enough to help.
Last year, the teaching union NASUWT calculated that English schools get £678 more per pupil than schools in Wales, although the Welsh Government disputes the figure.
After ASCL Cymru’s warning, teachers’ leaders said budgets are “stretched to breaking point” and only “a dramatic increase in funding” would help schools deliver the reforms politicians want.
ASCL Cymru said the £170m allocated by the Welsh Government for schools over two years would mean around £32,000 for each school, which it described as a “drop in the ocean”.
In its report today on the Pupil Development Grant, the Committee for Children, Young People and Education adds its voice to those fears, recommending the Welsh Government reviews whether school funding is sufficient and saying it also intends to undertake its own work on the matter.
It also warns cash-strapped schools are using the money as core funding rather than for the targeted use it is meant for.
Plaid Cymru Shadow Education Secretary Llyr Gruffydd said the PDG is being used to “paper over the funding cracks”.
The £1,150 PDG annual payment for each pupil on free school meals has more than doubled from the £450 that was allocated when the grant was introduced in 2012-13.
The grant also provides money to the four regional school improvement consortia to be spent on looked-after and adopted children.
The committee says the Welsh Government is right to use the grant, but is “concerned” to see that Estyn reports only two-thirds of schools use the cash effectively to raise the attainment levels of disadvantaged pupils.
Lynne Neagle AM, chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee, said: “The link between deprivation and attainment is wellestablished.”
“Breaking this link has been a priority for the Welsh Government for many years. The Committee supports the use of the Pupil Development Grant to help narrow the gap between disadvantaged and deprived pupils and their peers, but we believe much more needs to done to ensure this funding helps more able pupils from deprived backgrounds get the highest grades.”
The Welsh Government has said that the regional consortia, established in 2012, are now well-placed to take over support for Wales’ most underperforming schools as part of their functions for overall school improvement.
The Committee makes 31 recommendations in its report, including that the Welsh Government regularly assesses the scale of investment for the PDG in terms of value for money and cost.
Plaid Cymru Shadow Education Secretary Llyr Gruffydd said: “This report highlights yet another consequence arising from the funding crisis in our schools. Using these grants for broader purposes and to paper over the funding cracks risks undermining their targeted nature and diluting their effectiveness.
“Plaid Cymru also shares Estyn and the committee’s concerns that a third of Welsh schools are not using their grant effectively. This fund is clearly not realising its full potential across all schools and Welsh Government must work harder to ensure greater effectiveness and value for money for this near £100m.”
The Welsh Government said in a statement: “Reducing the attainment gap between pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers is at the heart of our national mission to raise standards.
“Last year, an independent report found that schools consider the PDG to be ‘invaluable’ – this is a view that was very strongly endorsed in evidence presented to the Committee.
“That’s why we’ve focused our efforts on maximising the impact of the grant – whether that’s by doubling the financial support to early-years learners in the Foundation Phase or, as we recently announced, extending the PDG to include financial support for school uniforms, school sports kit and for equipment for wider activities such as Scouts and Guides and sports outside of school.
“We will fully reflect on the report’s recommendations, including how we can build on the PDG to ensure our investment gives every learner the very best opportunity to succeed. We will respond to the Committee’s report in due course.”
In April 2017, the Cabinet Secretary changed the name of the Pupil Deprivation Grant to the Pupil Development Grant (PDG), although he confirmed it would retain the same emphasis on pupils from deprived backgrounds.