Agenda item

(a)       That the Committee acknowledges the work done in previous years to        protect schools budgets;

(b)       That the Committee recognises that a ‘cash flat’ settlement poses risks       to schools and their ability to deliver the curriculum effectively;

(c)        That should additional resources become available, the Committee             recommends that Council provides an uplift to schools budgets if at all possible; and

(d)       That the Committee urge all parties to campaign as vigorously as possible, the National UK Government and Welsh Government to see an increase in quantum funding.

            The Chief Executive presented the stage two proposals for the School funding formula level for the 2018/19 Council Fund Budget.  The report outlined the potential risks and mitigations of such proposals on the delivery of quality educational services in Flintshire and provided contextual information on the current level of school balances, reductions in grant funding from Welsh Government (WG) and an overview of the inflationary cost pressures facing schools.

            Council at its December meeting approved the Stage two budget for the Council Fund Budget 2018/19 subject to several specific proposals being referred to Overview and Scrutiny for detailed scrutiny prior to further consideration by Cabinet and ultimately Council.  One of the specific budget proposals was that schools would only receive a ‘cash flat’ settlement for 2018-19 creating an efficiency of £1.143m, and that adjustments to school budget were made based on pupil demography, saving a further £0.288m.

            The Chief Executive concluded that despite the challenges of austerity over a prolonged period, the Council had managed to provide a small degree of financial protection to schools’ delegated funding and had previously met the Welsh Government’s Ministerial protection percentage uplifts for schools.  The challenging financial situation which was requiring the Council to consider setting only a ‘cash flat’ budget for schools had been created by nationally set policies which were unfunded e.g. pay awards for teachers and support staff and an increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions. 

            The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) reported that Schools had been proactive in adjusting to reducing funding levels and had critically reviewed their budgets to absorb pressures whilst focusing on maintaining the delivery of a quality curriculum and improving learner outcomes.  Open and honest discussions had been held with Schools with some more exposed to the financial challenges than others.  A further risk to school budgets was the reduction of specific grants in the Education and Youth Portfolio, as detailed within the report, which schools relied on to deliver services themselves or from which they received support services directly from the Council.   

            The Chairman invited Mrs. Rachel Molyneux, Richard Collett, Mrs. Ann Peers and Mr. John Wier, representing the Primary and Secondary Head Teachers Federation, to outline to the Committee their views on the current budget proposals for schools.  A copy of the representations made are attached at Appendix 1 and 2 of the minutes.

            The Leader of the Council thanked the Head Teachers for their attendance.  He commented on the continued challenges of austerity and the possible financial challenges facing the Council in the future financial years if the austerity programme continued.  He detailed the specific requests which had been made to Welsh Government (WG) for additional funding through an increase in the Domiciliary Care Fee Cap, recovery of 50% of the Apprentice Tax Levy, and a guarantee of future financial contributions through the Intermediate Care Fund (ICF).  He supported the case being put forward by Head Teachers and the need to continue to lobby UK National Government and Welsh Government to seek additional funding to protect front line services.

            The Cabinet Member for Education also thanked Head Teachers for their attendance and commented on the difficult position facing Councillors who wanted to continue to improve services for residents in Flintshire and not see continued reductions in funding.  He said that there had been regular communication with Head Teachers about the challenges facing the Council in setting a balanced budget and that they had indicated their willingness to work proactively through their professional associations and to appeal to WG directly to demonstrate the real challenges that they were facing in maintaining educational provision with reducing budgets.

            Councillor Kevin Hughes thanked the Head Teachers for their attendance and said that the Council was indebted to them for all their hard work in the schools across Flintshire.  He said that since becoming a Councillor, budget constraints had been constant concern and supported Head Teachers, teachers, school governors and pupils in speaking to their MP and AM to raise concerns around reducing funding to the Council.  A number of Councillors spoke in support of these comments and supported the need for continued lobbying for National UK Government and Welsh Government.

            Mrs. Rebecca Stark thanked the Leader, Cabinet Member and officers for presenting such a difficult report and for being open and transparent with the Committee on the financial challenges moving forward.  She raised concerns around the impact continued cuts in funding would have on teachers and children and said that there was a need to collectively respond to the challenges being faced.

            Mr. David Hytch commented on the superb effort from all teaching staff for the improvements in performance year on year whilst budgets continued to be reduced year on year.  He raised concerns around the well-being of teaching staff given continued increases in workload as a result of reducing funding and asked that this be monitored going forward.  He commented on the possibility of reducing the school teaching day as had been proposed in parts of England but said that this could become a child care issue and additional financial pressure for parents and hoped that this could be resisted.  He concluded that continued budget reductions had become a ‘tipping point’ and supported the continued lobbying of Governments.

            Councillor Tudor Jones spoke in support of the comments made and raised concerns around the impact of reducing budgets on small rural schools and the concerns on future school closures.  Councillor Dave Mackie said that whilst understanding the difficult positions facing officers, the proposed ‘cash-flat’ settlement would only set children up to fail in the future and asked that officers work together with Head Teachers to see if a better solution could be found.  Councillor David Williams raised concerns around the level of support that would be available for children with additional needs.             

In response to the comments and concerns raised, the Chief Executive commented on the limited options available for funding the budget gap.  He said that Flintshire had the leanest management structure in Wales and that all services had been transformed to meet funding pressures in previous years.  A potential efficiency from the GwE was being negotiated but the Council was contractually committed to that service.  There was a growing body of evidence that Flintshire was a low funded Council per capita in the way funding was allocated.  Schools in Flintshire were funded at lower levels compared to many other Welsh authorities and the ‘per pupil’ funding was below the Welsh average.  The main options available to the Council going forward was to continue to provide a focused, evidence based argument to the WG to demand financial assistance.     

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee acknowledges the work done in previous years to        protect schools budgets;

(b)       That the Committee recognises that a ‘cash flat’ settlement poses risks       to schools and their ability to deliver the curriculum effectively;

(c)        That should additional resources become available, the Committee             recommends that Council provides an uplift to schools budgets if at all possible; and

(d)       That the Committee urge all parties to campaign as vigorously as possible, the National UK Government and Welsh Government to see an increase in quantum funding.