3. Will the First Minister make a statement on schools funding levels in South Wales West? OAQ(5)203(FM)

The Welsh Government will shortly publish its next draft budget and the provisional local government settlement for 2017-18.

Thank you for that response, First Minister. Naturally, we all understand the complexities of the funding formula, but can I ask you what you’re doing to secure adequate funding for smaller schools?

Well, it’s a matter for local authorities, of course, to ensure that there is sufficient funding for their schools. We give them, of course, the funding and we expect them to spend an adequate amount of money on their schools in order to create good education in their areas. But, of course, the responsibility lies with the local authorities for funding their individual schools.

Does the First Minister agree with me that what is important is outcomes not inputs? And will the First Minister join me in congratulating Swansea council on record-breaking GCSE results, and Pentrehafod School and Morriston Comprehensive School—two Schools Challenge Cymru schools—on their excellent GCSE results?

Yes, I do very much welcome where Pathways to Success schools have improved with the support of Schools Challenge Cymru. I’d also like to congratulate Pentrehafod and Morriston, which I understand have recorded their best ever sets of results while taking part in the challenge, and the Member is rightly proud of the comprehensives in his area.

First Minister, it was back in December 2011 that the then education Minister, Leighton Andrews, made an announcement about £1.4 billion-worth of expenditure for the twenty-first century schools programme. That, of course, covered South Wales West and, indeed, other parts of Wales. Can you tell us how much has actually been released of that cash, given that we’re now five years into the programme and that £700 million was supposed to have been spent within the first seven years?

I believe that half of it, roughly, has been allocated. It’s a matter, of course, for local authorities to come forward with schemes to replace or, indeed, to repair school buildings, and I’ve seen them up and down Wales—from Rhyl to St Teilo’s in Cardiff. I was in the Deeside sixth not a few weeks ago, and we see that new buildings are going up all over Wales to provide facilities that youngsters need and expect, while at the same time nothing is happening under his party in England.

First Minister, cuts in local authority budgets have put pressure on school budgets throughout my region. In addition to school budgets, Swansea council have also increased the amount they charge for service level agreements, which is impacting upon schools’ ability to deliver things like music lessons, swimming lessons and the supply of library books. Swansea now has one of the lowest per pupil funding levels in Wales. Will the Welsh Government consider the impact that budget cuts are having on schools in my region when it sets the level of Government funding in the forthcoming budget?

Well, of course, we expect local authorities to allocate money for local services such as education. It’s for them to justify the amount of money they spend on education. It’s true to say that there are some schemes that we run centrally as a Government, but we would expect all local authorities to fund schools in such a way that we continue to see the improvement that we’ve seen over the last few years in children’s education.