‘Funding for poorer pupils being misused’

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 Wednesday 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.

During evidence, committee members were also told that the PDG is not used enough to support more able and talented pupils who qualify for free school meals.

This is despite the fact that the PDG should be used to improve the educational outcomes of every pupil