Schools ‘forced to ration’ support for children with additional learning needs

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter

A county’s schools are being “forced to ration” support for pupils with additional learning needs as the authority does not have the resources to cope.

The startling admission from Flintshire’s Cabinet Member for Education, Welsh Language, Culture And Leisure Cllr Mared Eastwood during a council meeting this week has stunned parents trying to secure ALN support for their children – with one branding it an ‘incredibly serious statement’.

The admission came as Cllr Eastwood addressed a motion before Flintshire County Council to lobby the Welsh Government to re-allocate £344 million of ALN consequential funding from Westminster to Welsh Local Authorities.

The motion – raised by Cabinet Member for Finance Cllr Paul Johnson – called on Welsh Government to allocate the funds to support ALN and for the Leader of the Council Cllr Dave Hughes bring together all parties within the council to send a joint letter to Welsh Government and all MPs and MS’ detailing the council’s demand.

Welsh Government had previously attempted to bring a budget which reallocated the majority of that funding to other areas of government.

Cllr Eastwood revealed that while she was confident schools in Flintshire were meeting their statutory responsibilities to pupils, they no longer have the resources to fully deliver ALN support to all pupils that need it.

“Schools are experiencing the pressure of rising need, falling budgets and increasing statutory duties,” she said. “Headteachers, ALN Coordinators and governing bodies report unprecedented levels of complex ALN need far beyond historical norms.

“The majority of head teachers cite ALN as being one of the most significant drivers of financial overspend, whereby they have no option other than to overspend to meet the needs of specific learners.

“Without additional funding, schools are being forced to ration support, prioritising only the most severe cases. This undermines the rights-based ethos of Wales ALN reforms and risks non-compliance with statutory requirements.

“Quite simply, current funding levels do not match the scale of need. Welsh Government introduced the ALN reforms, quite rightly, therefore it holds responsibility for ensuring that they are deliverable.

“By way of example, a one-to-one teaching assistant to support a child with significant needs could cost in the region of £22,500. With a funding allocation of under £5,000, there is an immediate budget shortfall of £17,500.

“We do meet our statutory responsibilities, we ensure that every child gets the level of support that they require but we have to go out of county to get that and that is causing an increase in cost pressure.”

The revelation that ALN support was being rationed came as a shock to one parent, who came forward anonymously earlier this year to share the challenges she has faced getting adequate support for her child in Flintshire.

“That is an incredibly serious statement, particularly when we are talking about children’s legal rights to education and additional learning provision,” she said following the meeting.

“It really resonates with my own experience. My daughter is autistic and has significant anxiety, sensory, social communication and emotional regulation difficulties, yet we have had to fight repeatedly to get her needs recognised and appropriate support put in place.

“At one point, her school decided she didn’t even have ALN, despite acknowledging the difficulties she was experiencing and identifying numerous interventions she needed.

“If schools are genuinely having to ration support, then I think parents deserve to know exactly what that means in practice. How many children are struggling without the support they need simply because their needs are not considered severe enough?

“Children shouldn’t have to reach crisis point before they are considered deserving of appropriate support.”

Flintshire schools will get a small injection of cash after an intervention in the debate by the Leader of the True Independents Group, Cllr Carol Ellis.

She tabled an amendment calling for Flintshire County Council to restore £516,000 of top-up funding allocated to the authority to cover teachers’ pay increases in December 2025 to the schools budget -drawing parallels between that decision and the Welsh Government’s attempt to reallocate ALN consequentials.

During the 2025/26 budget discussions it had been suggested that after cutting school budgets by 2.5%, any additional money received by the council be put into education – but when the teachers’ pay allocation was received, the authority chose instead to absorb the money – arguing that it covered investment the council had already made in schools.

“Then, money allocated for education, as already been mentioned by my colleagues, was not used for education and yet here we are with the notice of motion which is very political.

“For me, I’d like to see that money go into education where it should have gone, where we all had asked previously for that money to go.

“Can that be an amendment to put the half a million pound back to where it should go?”

The amendment was passed but in the final vote the Cabinet – including the Cabinet member for Finance who brought the original motion and the Cabinet Member for Education who detailed the dire state of education funding, abstained from the vote.

As a result Flintshire County Council will put just over half a million into the schools budget this year.

---

Get more trusted Welsh news

Choose Nation.Cymru as a preferred source in Google News to see more of our journalism.