8. Welsh Conservatives Debate: School Funding

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:08 pm on 20 February 2019.

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Photo of Suzy Davies Suzy Davies Conservative 6:08, 20 February 2019

I think I answered that question right at the beginning, because—and I'll come to this—it's too easy to blame the UK Government for this, because the problems I'm talking about—[Interruption.] I tell you what, if you let me come to the end of my speech, you will get answers. I'll take another intervention, if you like, to save a little bit of time on this.

In short, all this list that I've just mentioned to you is undermining this Government's aims and I don't think any of us wants that. While I accept that the new curriculum will need considerable professional development, I'm not sure that the extra millions you've found in-year for centrally funding continuous professional development wouldn't have been better spent—this is one example, Lynne—on helping schools this year, rather than a last-minute rush to spend it on preparing for areas of learning and experience, which aren't ready yet.

So, in short, there is a risk here that the policy objectives cannot be met because schools are underfunded by a local authority diversion of funds within the revenue support grant and failure to delegate, combined with direct funding, which misses out some schools altogether. As I said, it's too easy to pin this on the UK Government. The specific risks arise from what happens between the calculation of the IBA and what schools actually get from councils, as well as money being directed centrally for purposes that haven't yet made their mark in terms of effectiveness. And I think that, combined with the challenge of a new curriculum and new qualifications, is not encouraging people into the teaching profession either.

As I said at the beginning, the Welsh Government knows how much money it will be getting at the beginning of the process of deciding what the IBA is. You can't blame it, at that point, if the local authorities then start taking money out of what they've been expecting, because, as I said at the very beginning, Welsh Government actually ends up getting a little bit more from the UK Government than it was anticipating originally.

The final point I want to make, Dirprwy Lywydd, is that school funding guidance is nine years old. It's almost half the lifetime of this Assembly. The RSG funding formula, the IBA funding formula, school funding guidance—they all belong in history lessons themselves. And, in moving this motion, I ask you, Minister: what lessons have you learned from what our constituents are telling you?