Council injects £700k to ease redundancy pressures on schools

Schools in a north Wales county borough are to receive an additional £700,000 to help relieve redundancy costs.

The situation facing schools that make staff redundant to balance their budgets was hotly debated recently by members of Wrexham County Borough Council’s Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Committee.

As budget pressures mount on schools, with 31 facing a licensed deficit this year, one of the few things they can do to reduce costs is to cut staff numbers – but that comes with an up-front cost.

Factoring in redundancy pay and other contributions, the staff reduction costs facing schools in Wrexham in 2025/26 is £871,456.

Annually, £200,000 is top-sliced from school budgets in the borough to provide a redundancy fund to cover these costs – but this year schools were facing the prospect of finding an additional £671,456 from their own budgets – money they simply do not have.

Last month the Lead Member for Education Cllr Phil Wynn told members of the committee that discussions were underway regarding how to handle the redundancy costs facing schools, but he could not provide any further detail at that stage.

Now he has confirmed that Wrexham Council will add £700,000 to that redundancy pot for this financial year, easing the cost pressure on schools.

That makes the redundancy fund for this year £900,000.

“I know these have been difficult months for school leaders and governors and I want to thank them for their resilience and professionalism,” said Cllr Wynn.

“Covering these redundancy costs corporately has not been easy, but it was the right thing to do.

“Schools are at the heart of our communities, and we understand the strain that financial pressures have placed on them. I am pleased that the council has been able to step in and support schools with their redundancy costs.

“This decision reflects our commitment to working together to find solutions, even in challenging times.”

The extra money will be provided jointly by the council’s Education Department and corporately from the authority’s cash-limited 2025/26 budget.

Asked if this would be the last injection of support for schools, Cllr Wynn would not be drawn.

“The financial circumstances the council and schools will face as we head into 2026/27 are unlikely to improve, so the focus for myself, the Leader, the Chief Education and Finance officers along with our school heads will need to turn to how we handle future redundancy costs.

“As we look ahead to even tougher financial conditions, we remain committed to working with schools to find sustainable solutions for the future. The Council will now explore a longer-term approach to managing redundancy costs likely to arise in 2026/27 and beyond.

“In the meantime, I am just relieved we have been able to assist our schools as stated.”

The news was welcomed by Cllr Anthony Wedlake, leader of the Progressive Independent’s group on Wrexham Council and one of the leading voices that challenged Cllr Wynn over the need for council to support schools with redundancy payments at last month’s scrutiny committee.

“I welcome today’s announcement from Cllr Wynn ensuring the £700,000 redundancy cost gap in Wrexham School’s education budgets will be funded through central council funds,” he said.

“This situation should never have arisen in the first place, given the clear commitments made to schools regarding their funding.

“Regardless of the responsibility that UK and Welsh Governments must take, Wrexham’s schools have still not recovered from the 5% cut in real terms in their budgets last year by Wrexham Council.

“It is also important to emphasise the value of the council’s scrutiny committees in this decision. It was through the scrutiny process that a number of different community stakeholders were brought together to ensure a robust case for the decision we have witnessed today.”