Proper funding is the start of success

THE report from the Institute for Government on the delivery of public services across the UK since devolution began provides plenty of information and commentary for Members of the post-election Senedd to ponder.

For many years there has been concern about the underfunding of the health service in Wales. Much of the blame has been attributed to the workings of the Barnett formula, which decides how much money should be allocated to the devolved administrations according to their populations.

Today’s report suggests that if the NHS in Wales received resources based on the level of need, its budget would rise by around 5%.

There is considerable irony in the fact that Wales would do better if England’s internal needs-based formula were used to decide our allocation instead of Barnett.

While the loss of funds has been mitigated by the negotiation of a gradual rise in Wales’ grant, it will take years to rectify the shortfall.

But, as the report makes clear, the quality of public services is not determined by cash alone.

Policy decisions unrelated to the level of funding can also have a considerable impact.

It’s suggested by the Institute for Government that the relatively poor performance of Wales’ secondary schools in comparison with their counterparts elsewhere in the UK is linked to the scrapping of school league tables and standardised testing.

This, of course, is a highly controversial subject. Teaching unions insist that league tables and standardised pupil testing created unnecessary stigma and stress.

But it’s undeniable that the international Pisa tests have demonstrated the relative weakness of Welsh secondary school pupils when tested on core subjects, and that public examination results do not compare favourably with those in other UK nations.

It’s important that politicians don’t dismiss the report’s findings out of hand, but give them proper consideration.

Wales faces huge challenges in the coming years. Because of our understandable preoccupation with Covid-19, the impact of Brexit has been largely overlooked. With the lockdown being eased and the vaccination programme rolled out, that will change.

To have any chance of increasing prosperity, we need a healthy and well-educated workforce.

Ensuring the Welsh Government is properly resourced, and that it makes the right policy decisions, will be essential.