Calls renewed for Welsh Government to deliver ALN funding

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter

Millions of pounds promised to support pupils with additional learning needs should be released to help rebalance school budgets, a council has told the Welsh Government.

Wrexham County Borough Council has written to Finance Minister Elin Jones asking ministers to reconsider their decision over the allocation of funding to local authorities as pupils prepare to return to school this week.

The council says that before May’s Senedd election it had been promised around £12 million in ALN “consequentials” – money passed to Wales following additional UK Government spending on schools in England.

This would eliminate much of the financial deficits facing schools in Wrexham – a significant proportion of which have built up as a result of schools having to increase ALN provision.

In England mainstream schools were permitted to accumulate overspends on special educational needs (SEN) provision off their official balance sheets – with the UK Government agreeing to wipe those debts.

To ensure Welsh schools were treated fairly, Westminster agreed to send a ‘consequential’ payment of £340 million to Cardiff this year.

But in its failed supplementary budget, Welsh Government proposed spending that money elsewhere, with just £120 million allocated to schools over three years.

According to the Leader of Wrexham Council Cllr Mark Pritchard, that money was to redress the additional statutory spending that schools across Wales had already invested in ALN support.

The Welsh Local Government Association has argued that school spending on ALN has already eclipsed the consequential payment and schools now desperately need that money.

Rethink

Now Wrexham Council has formally written to Ms Jones to appeal for a rethink.

” It is evident that the increasing demands and complexities of ALN provision are continuing to place significant budget pressures on the Education and Early Intervention Department, school transport, schools and Children’s Social Care,” wrote Cllr Tina Mannering, Chair of Wrexham Council’s Customers, Performance, Resources and Governance Scrutiny Committee.

“This is a continuing trend that has contributed significantly to weakening the financial resilience of both the council and schools. Unlike in England, where SEN deficits have been accumulating off balance sheet, all of the cost of increased demand and provision in Wales has had to be fully funded from council and schools budgets over several years.

“This means there is limited financial capacity to invest in solutions to try to address the continuing financial pressures in the ALN and school system.

“For the first time, there is a deficit balance on school budgets in Wrexham. It was also reported that school balances across Wales have reduced by £290m in five years, this equates to a drop of 96%.

“Budgeted ALN expenditure in Wales is expected to rise by 14.4% in the current financial year. Such levels of increase are just not sustainable.

“Schools are finding it increasingly difficult to resource the necessary strategies and interventions for pupils with complex needs and this also puts significant pressure on teaching staff.

“It is critical additional funding is made available now to stabilise the system, allow investment in additional capacity and to invest in interventions both within and outside of school settings to avoid the continuing growth of expensive external placements that in many cases provide poor outcomes for the children and their families.

“I would be grateful if you could please raise this issue at the highest level with a view to ensuring that the financial consequential that came to Wales is not a missed opportunity and that additional funding be provided to local authorities and schools this year to help address the funding demands across the system, provide the means to invest in better outcomes for children and put the sector back on a more financially sustainable footing.”

‘Pressures’

In response Welsh Government Cabinet Member for Education and the Welsh Language Anna Brychan MS said an announcement would be made in the autumn.

“I recognise the significant pressures facing schools, local authorities, families and the wider education workforce in supporting learners with ALN,” she wrote.

“These pressures are being felt at a time when needs are becoming more complex and public services continue to operate within extremely challenging financial constraints.

“As part of negotiations on its first supplementary budget, the Welsh Government had identified a £120 million, three-year funding package to support ALN capacity.

“This was intended to provide funding directly to schools, while also enabling local authorities and schools to work together to build a more sustainable system for the future. However, following the Senedd’s vote against the first supplementary budget in July, that funding package could not move forward as intended.

“Since then, I have worked at pace to bring local government partners, trade unions and other education stakeholders together to consider the issues raised and identify a constructive way forward.

“The Welsh Government remains committed to strengthening the sustainability, clarity, capacity and confidence of the ALN system, so that children and young people receive the right support, at the right time, to meet their needs.”

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