Council ‘to pull out of deadweight schools scheme’
ACOUNCIL has launched an extraordinary attack on the work of Wales’ £139m school improvement service, saying it will pull out of the system subject to Cabinet approval next week.
All councils work with one of four regional school improvement consortia which were set up by Welsh Government in 2012 and have been a cornerstone of its education policy since.
Now, Neath Port Talbot council says it has “major concerns about the governance, quality and financial aspects” of the ERW consortium it is part of.
ERW gets more than £44m of Welsh Government funding to run school improvement in Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire, Powys and Swansea. But better standards in Neath Port Talbot schools have had little to do with its work, a report going to the council’s cabinet next week claims.
Councillor Peter Rees, Cabinet member for education, leisure and lifelong learning, said ERW wants to quadruple the council’s £40,000 annual contribution for its services at a time of cuts “when we are trying to get every last penny into our classrooms”.
Head teachers in the county have also warned about a “lack of direct benefit to schools,” he added.
A joint report to Cabinet next week from Neath Port Talbot’s chief executive, Steven Phillips, and director of education, leisure and lifelong learning Aled Evans says head teachers in the county view collaboration with ERW “to be deadweight and a barrier to effective school improvement practice”. It recommends leaving ERW.
In a statement, Neath Port Talbot said: “The council has today confirmed that, subject to a cabinet decision next week (March 27) it will serve notice to withdraw from the Regional School Improvement Consortium, ERW, with effect from March 31, 2020. However, it retains the right to withdraw this notice at any time during its 12-month period.”
The number of schools in the county categorised as red or amber (the lowest in Welsh Government colour rankings) fell significantly in the last two years but that “had little to do with ERW”, the report to Cabinet adds.
It goes on to say council has had to “battle” for access to financial information from ERW, it has been difficult or impossible to track allocation of funding to schools “particularly those who need most support” and directors have been excluded from key meetings, discussions and communication.
Responding to the news, the Welsh Government and ERW said a meeting is being held with Education Minister Kirsty Williams and council leaders next week to discuss the concerns.
It is the latest attack on the school improvement service. Teaching unions and head teachers’ organisations have claimed money given to the consortia from Wales’ £2.2bn education budget would be better spent at the frontline and saving jobs at a time of major budget cuts and redundancies.
The four consortia have an annual budget of £139m this year which comes to them via the Welsh Government through the Pupil Development Grant, and other grants, and the 22 local education authorities they assist.
In Neath Port Talbot’s case it was asked to allocate £40,000 to ERW this year but that is being raised to between £160,000 and £170,000 next year, it said.
It is unclear what mechanism there would be for money for school improvement via Welsh Government to go direct to Neath Port Talbot rather than ERW if it does pull out.
The Association of School and College Leaders Cymru, the National Association of Head Teachers Cymru, the National Education Union Cymru and NASUWT Cymru have all queried whether some of the £139m for the consortia would be better spent going directly to the frontline in schools.
The National Education Union Cymru and the Association of School and College Leaders Cymru said they are concerned what impact it might have on schools in Neath Port Talbot and the other local education authorities in ERW if one member pulls out.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Regional working is crucial if we are to raise standards in our school system. We all have a responsibility to work across local authority boundaries to enable school-to-school co-operation and to share best practice on behalf of our young people.
“Anyone choosing to step away and not work in that spirit will be a disappointment to everyone else working hard to maintain and raise education standards across the country.
“ERW is a school improvement service jointly run by the local authorities in its area. We are therefore concerned that Neath Port Talbot feels that ERW has not been managed appropriately. The Education Minister and Minister for Housing and Local Government are due to meet ERW council leaders next week to discuss these concerns further.”
Councillor Ellen ap Gwyn, speaking in her capacity as chairman of ERW Joint Committee, said: “As chair of ERW I am currently working with our partners to try and resolve some long-term challenges. I have therefore requested a meeting with the Minister for Education to try and resolve these issues. The minister has agreed to meet all six leaders on Monday, March 25. It is my intention to call an extraordinary meeting of the Joint Committee to discuss further options following the meeting. I sincerely hope the minister will work with us to find the necessary resolutions.”