‘Millions for our schools wasted’
HUNDREDS of millions of pounds for education in Wales is swallowed up by wasteful bureaucracy and duplication and never gets to schools, the organisation representing school leaders claims.
Out of the £2.5bn allocated for schools in Wales’ education budget this year, at least £450m never got to schools because it was kept by local authorities or regional school improvement consortia, the Association of School and College Leaders Cymru estimates.
This is “unacceptable” at a time of cuts which are already affecting children’s education and putting the muchanticipated, new National Curriculum “in jeopardy”, the association says.
Quoting Welsh Government figures from the School Funding in Wales – Research Briefing August 2018, ASCL Cymru says this document shows tens of millions of pounds are being spent by local education authorities on paperwork and duplication. The figures show
£22.4m for “school improvement” when ASCL says that is work already funded with tens of millions of pounds given separately to the four school improvement consortia.
A further £54.5m is listed for “strategic management – schools” and £879,000 for “other LA Education budget – schools”.
ASCL director Tim Pratt said it is unclear what these headings mean or where the money is spent. He believes if schools were given more of the budget directly they would spend it better than administrators.
“There is too much duplication. Some schools are having to fill out three forms to tell three different bodies the same information,” he said.
Separate figures obtained by ASCL Cymru under Freedom of Information laws show £40m is retained by the school improvement consortia but not delegated to schools. Mr Pratt said it is again unclear what they use this money for.
He said it is inefficient that both local education authorities and consortia are tasked with school improvement and this should be looked at by Welsh Government.
On top of this hard-pressed schools are also “under pressure” to buy back services such as catering and legal advice from their local LEA, even when they may not be the best or most cost effective, ASCL Cymru claims.
“There is emerging evidence of a further £100m going back to local authorities (LAs) in Service Level Agreements across eight LAs who have so far responded to FoI requests. We predict that at the end of the FoI process there will be a further £250m going back to LAs for services in schools,” the association said in a statement.
Mr Pratt estimated at least half of all secondary schools across Wales are now in deficit and said the need to address any waste in education bureaucracy is urgent. The rate of deficit is less in primary schools, but also growing, he said.
“We can’t say all the £450m not going directly to schools is wasted but we need more clarity at a time when we have more than a significant number of schools in deficit and increasing daily.”
“There is clearly a need for LAs to retain monies to support schools, ASCL are however concerned about the duplication of services and ensuring that every penny that can get to the front line does, said Lee Cummins ASCL Cymru vice president.
“We want to support the minister’s vision, but we can not do this with the finance currently available to schools. £22m on school improvement retained by LAs and £54m on Strategic Leadership of School by people external to schools is an issue.
“We have an overcrowded layer of bureaucracy which is stopping funding from getting to the frontline. Our members are concerned that learners will suffer as a result of these financial challenges.”
ASCL Cymru has now written to Education Secretary Kirsty Williams warning that pupils are not getting the education they need because funding is “totally inadequate” and too much never gets to schools.
“We feel it is unacceptable that out of the £2.5bn allocated for schools in the education budget, at least £450m never gets to schools because it is retained by the local authorities or regional consortia,” the letter says.
“It cannot be right that this amount of the money meant for children’s education does not actually reach the places where learning takes place and the curriculum and preparation for qualifications are delivered.”
ASCL goes on to claim that too much time and effort over school improvement is duplicated in the work of the four school improvement consortia and councils.
“In some areas, both the regional consortium and the local authority undertake elements of this work at significant additional cost to the taxpayer.
“We need a consistent approach to school improvement across the whole of Wales, and the resulting savings should be sent to schools for resources, teachers and support staff.”
ASCL Cymru said it has taken the unusual step of making the letter public because “we feel that the Welsh public needs to be aware of the severity of the situation and the risk to standards”.
Cash-starved schools are unable to deliver Wales’ long-awaited new curriculum, class sizes are rising, teacher numbers are falling and after school activities shutting, the letter signed by Jackie Parker ASCL Cymru president, Lee Cummins ASCL Cymru vice president and Hugh Davies ASCL Cymru immediate past president, adds.
The situation is now so bad that schools with budget deficits will soon become the norm rather than the exception with headteachers across all stages of education reporting concerns, they say.
After repeatedly raising the issue of cuts on schools ASCL Cymru says it is circulating the letter “to express our frustration and dismay about the severe funding crisis in Welsh schools and the detrimental effect this is having on our young people”.
The association’s warning that school reforms will fail without more money comes a month after the Welsh Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Education Wales warned the Welsh Government that the new curriculum will not teach pupils “enough of what really matters” and teaching union the NASUWT said teachers had lost faith in the reform process they had supported.
It also comes just a few weeks as the National Education Union Cymru is calling for the school improvement consortia to be wound up.
In its letter to Kirsty Williams, ASCL Cymru details how it has backed the new curriculum and education reforms, but says these are now at risk from lack of money.
“As you know, ASCL Cymru and its members have been fully committed to the Welsh Government’s Action Plan 2017-21 “Education in Wales: Our National Mission,” the letter says.
“We support your vision to ensure that every young person in Wales achieves the highest level of achievement and reaches their full potential. We have supported curriculum reform, reform of the workforce and embraced all elements of your comprehensive reform agenda.
“We have genuinely wanted to coconstruct the future with you. However, all of these reforms are now in jeopardy, due primarily to the totally inadequate level of funding in our schools.
“Our members are no longer able to provide the full range of opportunities and support that parents and carers have every right to expect.
“Our most vulnerable learners, those that the National Mission prioritises, are therefore significantly at risk,” the page-long letter warns.
Responding to the claims in the letter a Welsh Government spokesperson said: “The UK Government’s sustained austerity agenda has led to a cut of nearly £1bn to Wales’ overall budget.
“The Welsh Government will continue to call for additional resources to be spent on our public services, including our schools.
“Officials will meet with ASCL later this week to discuss the points that they have raised with regards to local authorities and consortia.
“School funding is the responsibility of local authorities and it is up to them how they spend this funding. We recently announced the single biggest investment in teachers since devolution and will continue to prioritise funding for schools across the country.”