North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has this week challenged the Education Minister over Flintshire’s school budget, which is one of the lowest in Wales.
Mr Isherwood is concerned that Flintshire’s budget is substantially lower than both neighbouring Denbighshire and Wrexham.
Speaking in the Chamber, he said:
“The Welsh Government gives 17 out of 22 Welsh local authorities a higher gross schools budget per pupil than Flintshire, including neighbouring Denbighshire and Wrexham.
“Given the previously stated Welsh Government expectation that local authorities should prioritise per-pupil funding in schools, and only retain centrally what should be necessary, how do you respond to a situation where Denbighshire and Wrexham, with larger budgets, retain only £783 and £810 respectively, but Flintshire, with a smaller budget, retains £882 per pupil, and therefore has one of the lowest delegated schools budgets in Wales?”
The Minister, Huw Lewis AM, replied: “ My understanding, Presiding Officer, is that each and every one of the 22 local authorities in Wales—so, I’m not being biased in a party political sense here - has surpassed the 85 per cent delegation of school budgets to schools that the Welsh Government set as an expectation. Indeed, our expectation through this next Assembly term will be that that increases to 90 per cent delegation. I’m not in a position, nor, I think, would it be wise for me, to arbitrate between the various decisions being made by Flintshire, Denbighshire and so on. It is for local authorities to make their decisions and face their electorate when the time comes.”
Mr Isherwood added: “In the most recently published official figures, for 2015-16, Wrexham and Denbighshire were already achieving the 85% figure, at 85% and 86% respectively, but Flintshire was trailing at only 83%, meaning that schools in Flintshire received £109 less per pupil than in Denbighshire and £72 less per pupil than in Wrexham.”
“As the Minister himself said about this Labour Council, “It is for local authorities to make their decisions and face their electorate when the time comes”.