‘£800m funding boost for schools in Wales’
Almost £1bn in extra funding could be on its way to Wales following a decision to increase spending on schools in England.
But education unions were last night sceptical about the degree to which the promised money would help school funding in Wales.
Prime minister Boris Johnson announced an extra £14bn over three years for schools in England.
In its press release announcing the spending boost in England, the UK Government said the Barnett formula – under which a percentage of the money is also allocated to the devolved nations – would be applied in the normal way.
Further details will be set out in Chancellor sajid Javid’s spending Review planned for next week.
Welsh Conservative leader Paul
Davies said: “The Welsh Conservatives are committed to ensuring that every young person in Wales has the opportunity of a decent education, to give them the best start in life, so that they can achieve their full potential.
“I would urge the Welsh labour Government – and their lib Dem Education minister – to make sure that the funding goes directly to primary and secondary schools and is not top-sliced as it is currently.”
The Western mail asked Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre to calculate what the £14bn announcement would mean for
Wales. Its experts calculated the funding should equate to roughly £819m over three years – £153m in 2020-21, £283m in 2021-22 and £419m in 2022-23.
However, it is up to the Welsh Government to decide how to spend any money it receives from Westminster.
The situation is further complicated because it is not known how much money in total will be made available to the Welsh Government in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Guto Ifan of the Wales Governance Centre warned: “The amount ultimately transferred to the Welsh Government will depend on other UK government spending decisions”.
Mr Johnson said: “I promised to make sure every child receives a superb education – regardless of which school they attend, or where they grew up.
“Today I can announce the first step in delivering on that pledge – funding per pupil in primary and secondary schools will increase, and be levelled up across the entire country.”
But the Welsh Government says it does not know what this will mean for Wales.
A spokesman said: “We will not comment on individual spending announcements until the full details and analyses are published next Wednesday.”
EAnd education unions insisted parity of funding in Wales is an ongoing issue.
David Evans, Wales Secretary for the National Education Union Cymru, said: “Whilst NEU Cymru will always welcome much-needed additional funding for schools and education in Wales, it does not always follow that additional funding announced by the Westminster Government for schools in England will provide a similar consequential for us in Wales.
“We have seen that recently where announcements were made regarding funding of teachers pay in England initially excluded Wales and it is a constant battle for us to ensure that similar provision is made this side of the border.
“The funding gap that exists between England and Wales has been a well-rehearsed complaint for many years.
“Assuming that next week’s Comprehensive Spending Review does result in much-needed additional money for England’s schools, we would expect a similar announcement for Welsh schools if there is to be any parity in treatment and to avoid Welsh schools slipping further behind comparable schools in the country next door.
“Everyone knows that there is a chronic underfunding of Welsh schools and, just last month, the Assembly Children Young People and Education committee published a report on school funding in Wales confirming that fact. Recommendation one of that report calls for an urgent review of what is needed to fund our schools. That review cannot come soon enough.”
The NEU’s joint general secretaries, Kevin Courtney and Mary Bousted, have also warned that the proposals in England still fall short of what is needed.
Rob Williams, director of the National Association of Head Teachers Cymru said it is “totally unclear” whether the announcement means any more money for schools in Wales.
“We are hearing lots of promises, but this is totally uncosted. There is no clarification about what money is coming to Wales,” he said.
“If it is additional money then by (Barnett formula) consequentials we should get more money, and morally we should, but there is no clarity on that. It is really uncertain.”
He said even if more money does come to Wales, it may just offset rising costs such as the teachers’ pay award and increased pension.
“Our fear us that even if there is new money coming to Wales the impact won’t be huge. You will have schools who will be in the situation where to cover pensions and the pay award they will have to let staff go. “It’s too early for us to know.” Eithne Hughes, incoming director of the Association of School and College Leaders Cymru, said: “It is too early to say how the school funding announcement for England will impact on schools in Wales but we will be studying the figures closely over the next few days. We obviously hope that it will add up to good news because schools in Wales desperately need an improved level of funding.”
On Wednesday, Chancellor Sajid Javid is due to announce a Spending Review in the Commons which he has said will include announcements on police, healthcare and education. However, because of uncertainties surrounding Brexit, the review is for one year only, rather than the usual three years.