Vale schools face tough choices after losing £1.3m in seven years
SCHOOLS in the Vale of Glamorgan are having to make tough decisions to operate under “unsustainable” budgets after losing £1.3m in seven years, the council has admitted.
Vale of Glamorgan Council has published the financial balances for each of its schools at the end of the past seven financial years.
The figures show that while most schools are financially healthy, some have fallen into deficit while others are holding on to balances up to a quarter of a million pounds.
Overall, schools in the Vale have lost more than £1.3m from their balances since the end of the 201011 financial year.
A Vale of Glamorgan Council spokesman said: “School balance decreases indicate schools are operating unsustainable budgets.
“This is largely because budgets have not grown sufficiently to cope with increasing financial demands, such as the cost of meeting recommended foundation phase staff ratios in primary schools or the increasing level of pupils with additional learning needs.
“Over 92% of school budgets are now used to fund staff, leaving less for resources and maintaining school premises.
“Schools are making very tough decisions to avoid falling into deficits, but are not helped by the fact pupil funding in the Vale is the lowest in Wales.
“The council and the Schools Budget Forum have been working hard to address this issue with Welsh Government in the hope that the formula used to fund local authorities will be reviewed.”
Schools funding is based on a number of fac- tors but 70% of the money they get is based on pupil numbers.
The council added: “Redundancy is a last resort for all schools, but this is something that some schools are having to consider more frequently now that funding is so tight.”
Pendoylan CIW Primary ended the 2017-18 financial year with a deficit of £49,736 – which was the fifth consecutive year it had ended up in the red.
The school has been overspending as it was offering a full-time nursery to parents but did not have sufficient budget to cover the costs.
Currently, schools do receive funding to run nurseries – but only enough for a part-time provision.
The school is now a reg- istered childcare provider and is now offering a free part-time nursery in addition to part-time childcare provision, which the school is able to charge for.
The council says it has provided support to meet the shortfall, and is working on a recovery plan to end the school’s deficit in the next three years.
St Brides Major Primary also ended 2017-18 with a deficit – of £9247 – despite being £128,531 in the black during the previous year. The school ended up in a deficit after overspending on an extension and has had to save money by not replacing staff who have left or retired.
But Duncan Mottram, headteacher of St Brides Major Primary, said the school is not in any lasting financial trouble.
He said: “The school continues to offer a highquality education. Despite the financial climate, we had a really strong Estyn inspection a few years ago. We’re doing our very best in a changing climate. The school’s buildings have improved significantly in the last five years – that takes investment.”
The council said many schools that hold on to excessive balances are keeping the money to pay for specific projects.
The council spokesman said: “Schools are encouraged to spend current funding on current pupils but are permitted to carry forward a reasonable balance from one financial year to the next.
“The council can intervene where schools are holding on to balances in excess of £50,000 for primary and £100,000 for secondary and advise schools on how to spend surplus balances.
“If schools decide not to follow this advice and still hold on to excessive balances, the council can then redistribute some or all of the surplus balance to other schools.
“The council has written to all schools with excessive balances and requested that they report back in detail on the planned use of any surplus balances by June 30.”
A Welsh Government spokeswoman said: “Despite the UK Government’s continued austerity programme, we have taken action to safeguard local authorities and schools to support frontline services.
“The Vale of Glamorgan will see an increase to its core funding next year, equivalent to 0.2% or more than £300,000.
“The Welsh Government does not fund schools directly. Each local authority is responsible for determining how much funding is allocated to each individual school.
“The formula to fund local authorities is agreed through the Finance SubGroup. This group has representation from all local authorities, including the Vale of Glamorgan.
“The Welsh Government has previously presented local authorities with proposals to update the 1991 census-related element of the current formula.
“This proposal was not pursued.”