Multi-year Budgeting

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:17 pm on 6 March 2019.

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Photo of Suzy Davies Suzy Davies Conservative 2:17, 6 March 2019

Thank you for that answer. You'll be aware, of course, and we've heard today about the serious concerns now being expressed about school funding, and one of the things that we hear is that schools can find themselves in receipt of extra money at very short notice at the end of the financial year, which makes it very difficult for them to spend it in-year effectively. It also has the unintended consequence of artificially inflating reserves at the end of the year.

Now, I appreciate the timing of this extra money isn't entirely down to Welsh Government because it does depend to a degree on when the UK Government passes money on, but there is still some time lag that is exacerbating the problem. Assembly terms are now five years. The Welsh block figure goes up in actual terms every year. Is there anything legislative that is preventing you from allowing schools to plan on two-year cycles with an indicative third year figure in a cycle that would help them solve the late windfall problem, help schools plan better, and safeguard their funding from being raided by councils to meet other demands?