With the UK Government increasing schools’ budgets in England by £3.5 billion next year, Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies is calling on the Welsh Government to also make education a priority.
Last week, many parents in Denbighshire received a concerning email from headteachers stating that they are being forced to make cuts which “will affect every single child”.
They state that these cuts will “negatively impact our children’s present and future”.
James has described the content of the letter as "alarming" and said he is “concerned that the headteachers felt they had no other option but to write to parents in this way”.
He said:
“This is a cry for help that cannot be ignored.
“Our children deserve world class education facilities and support so that they can thrive, with the best possible start in life. Likewise, teaching staff should be able to deliver quality education and support to our children without the threat of impossible budget restrictions. I have been discussing this at length with local county councillors over the weekend.”
Since the letter was sent out on Friday, James has received calls and emails from parents who are not surprisingly extremely concerned.
His response to them states:
“As you may be aware, education has been devolved in Wales for the last 25 years. This means that it is overseen by the Welsh Government in Cardiff. The Welsh Government levies some taxes of its own but receives the vast majority of its funding from the UK Treasury. For every £1 that is spent in England, the Welsh Government receives £1.20.
"In England, the UK Government is increasing schools’ budgets by £3.5 billion next year, and funding will be at the highest ever level in real terms per pupil by the next academic year, as measured by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. School funding is set to rise faster than forecast inflation in both 2023/24 and 2024/25.
“In other words, based on the funding provided from UK Government, there should be no cuts taking place to education in North Wales. However, it is entirely down to Welsh Government to decide how it allocates the £18bn+ annual block grant it receives from the Treasury. Of the funding allocated by the Welsh Government to local authorities, it is then the responsibility of local county councillors to determine what proportion is spent on education.
“Therefore, it is for both the Welsh Government and Denbighshire County Council to explain how they are spending the funding that exists and why they have chosen to prioritise other matters over the education and pastoral care of your children.
“The headteachers’ letter indicates that Denbighshire County Council has done all it can to protect schools’ budgets. While I appreciate that the education department itself may feel it has done so, I do think it is appropriate to question the council’s wider budget: the £10m cost to switch the blue wheelie bin recycling system to unpopular trolley-boxes; significant and arguably avoidable costs involved in shutting down the SeaQuarium; expenditure on the Maes Emlyn project before it was later abandoned; and so on.
“It is for this reason that the council’s annual budget, including the allocation to schools, was supported only by the ruling Labour/Plaid coalition. The Conservative, Independent and Lib Dem councillors voted against it.
“It is undoubtedly the case that the Labour/Plaid Welsh Government has yet more questions to answer. In recent times, we have seen them waste an unforgivable amount of money including:
£155 million which was handed back to the Treasury as a result of an underspend in 2020-21;
£294,600 expenditure renaming the Senedd during a pandemic;
£200m pumped into the failing Cardiff Airport;
£33m and rising spent on the unwanted 20mph speed limit;
£120m on plans to increase the number of politicians in Cardiff Bay by 36;
£125m in additional subsidy this year for their underperforming ‘Transport for Wales’ services;
Tens of millions of pounds on the now cancelled M4 relief road;
£4.25m purchase of a field for the ‘Green Man’ Festival;
£9.3m on the failed ‘Circuit of Wales’ project;
Very sizeable sums through NHS mismanagement;
Costly overseas offices;
And much else.
“Some try to claim that the Welsh Government should receive unaffordable quantities of further money from the British taxpayer. It is clear to me that the main issue is their poor prioritisation.”
In his response, James also referred to the latest PISA results which show that Wales is bottom of the UK nations in terms of education performance, while the number of teachers is declining, violence in schools is skyrocketing and school absenteeism is worryingly high."
His response to parents also states:
“It is clear to me that the Labour Welsh Government are not delivering for this future generation and that our children deserve better.
“We must prioritise our children and ensure that they are provided the best opportunities in life. Their school should be a safe place where they, and their parents can be sure that they are supported and cared for.
“With this in mind, I am writing to the Welsh Education Minister, Jeremy Miles MS, the First Minister, Mark Drakeford MS and Denbighshire County Council, to express my extreme concerns about the content of the letter you received. I would encourage you to contact them with your concerns also.
“I am also writing to the headteachers in my constituency to offer them my unwavering support.”
