But that won't ensure that every single child is educated in an adequate building, and that is the point that I'm making.

This funding squeeze represents difficult decisions for schools right across Wales, not just in the Rhondda, but I recently wrote to schools in my constituency and I just wanted to note a couple of responses here today.

One Rhondda primary school has had to make cuts of over £15,000, including cutting the school caretaker's hours to save £5,000. That headteacher anticipates further cuts over the next two years. This is a new school, but there is a need for internal painting and new carpets, which can't be afforded. While that school is facing cuts, pupil numbers are increasing.

Treorchy Comprehensive School faces equally difficult decisions—£230,000 has been cut this year, with no corresponding drop in pupil numbers. This would be much worse if they hadn't spent huge amounts of time and effort generating an independent income through staff and volunteers. Further cuts are expected, with the local authority indicating that it will make what it euphemistically calls 'school-based efficiency savings'.

To a certain extent, I do sympathise with the Cabinet Secretary. I recognise that Westminster, through its policy of austerity, has pursued relentless cuts that have seen our funding squeezed, but how much more can our schools take? We cannot afford for the education of our future generations to suffer because of austerity. So, I implore the Cabinet Secretary to look again at these cuts that are being imposed upon our schools and do everything in her power to reverse them.