10. What is the Welsh Government doing to facilitate discussions between local authorities and schools during this period of severe financial hardship? OQ59253

Local authorities are required by law to have an established school forum, and the purpose of a school forum is to help develop informed and confident dialogue between local authorities and their schools, including, importantly, on budgetary issues.

Thank you for that response, Minister.

A few weeks ago, a £2.12 million cut to Bridgend council's school budget was announced, meaning an increased risk of redundancies. Worryingly, of course, Bridgend is a microcosm of what seems to be happening throughout Wales at the moment. In November, Heledd Fychan highlighted the National Association of Head Teachers survey, which said just 5 per cent of schools say they will be able to pay their costs in the next academic year without going into deficit. Minister, you mentioned, in response to Heledd Fychan about discussions with schools, about stretching reserves as far as they will go. So, could I ask if the Minister will update us on those discussions and whether the Minister has considered any mid to long-term solutions, perhaps in collaboration with local authorities, to the acute budgetary pressures facing schools?

In the next financial year, the South Wales West region of the Member will receive £945 million in settlement funding, and Wales as a whole sees an increase of 7.9 per cent in settlement funding over last year on a like-for-like basis. These increases are higher than the vast majority of increases for local authorities over recent years, which shows the continuing priority that we as a Government attach to making sure that local authority budgets, and in my case, of course, the budgets available to schools, are as high as they can be, despite the very, very real pressures that I know the Member appreciates the Welsh Government's budget is also under. Obviously, how those budgets are allocated is a matter for local authorities, but he will also know that authorities have given assurances, in particular, for example, in the context of the recent discussions with teaching unions in relation to industrial action, and there has been a transparent process that has sought to provide as much information as possible about how schools will be funded.

He mentioned the point about reserves. It is an important part of the funding landscape in the short term. Typically, no Government would be encouraging authorities to explore the use of reserves, because they're there for particular purposes. I think, in the particular circumstances that we're in, which is that over the COVID period the profile of funding and expenditure in schools was very, very different, and that has built up a historically high level of reserves—. But I want to be very clear that I do not regard that as part of the long-term solution, because those funds, once used, are used. So, they are there to alleviate pressure in the short term rather than the long term, but they're still important in playing that role.

Thank you, Minister.