Councillors clash over school budget cut

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter

Labour councillor Fran Lister has launched a blistering attack on her council’s decision to cut schools’ delegated budget by 2.5%.

Councillors attending the Flintshire County Council's Education, Youth and Culture Overview and Scrutiny Committee heard a report from senior inclusion and progression officer Jeanette Rourke that school attendances were slowly improving, with Flintshire ranked third in Wales.

But she admitted challenges remain, with secondary schools struggling to get to 90% attendance while at primary level four additional schools had broken that threshold.

Exclusions also remain high, with 28 permanent exclusions and 993 pupils temporarily excluded at least once in 2023/24 – an increase of 52 on the previous year.

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Opponent

Cllr Lister, a vocal opponent of Flintshire Council’s 2.5% cut to schools’ delegated budget in March, proposed an amendment challenging the Cabinet to produce a report on the long-term financial impact of underfunding schools provision.

“We have to stop talking about issues around attendance and exclusion with such a disconnect from the budgetary pressures schools are facing,” said the member for Brynford and Halkyn.

“The problems in this report are not new. The systematic underfunding of schools began in the austerity years and it has just been made worse by three consecutive years of council cuts.

“Now we’re seeing the predictable consequences. Reduced curriculum options, growing levels of exclusion, disengagement and persistent absence.

“Schools are expected to manage these complex needs with far fewer staff and far fewer resources. It’s unsustainable. Children are reduced to numbers in larger classes with limited personal attention. We all known that children who struggle in school need time and kindness and there’s a real shortage of that in schools in the way they are operating.

“The result is falling self esteem, falling engagement and ultimately a higher risk of those pupils disconnecting from their education entirely.

“This report focuses entirely on managing the consequences. Attendance and exclusions are symptoms of a system that is under strain. The solutions need to be preventative not just responsive.

“What’s also missing from this report is any acknowledgement that we, as a council, have played a part in making things worse. Cuts to school budgets weren’t made in isolation and they have consequences. The crisis in engagement, in behaviour and in attendance didn’t just happen, we helped create these conditions.

“It costs more to fail a child than to support them properly and whether that cost comes through education out of school, youth justice, social care or long-term exclusion it’s a price we’re already paying. It’s going to continue to rise until we sort this out.”

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Recommendations

Cllr Lister added two new recommendations on behalf of the committee. the first that a future report outlines how resource levels, curriculum breadth and school funding affects attendance and exclusions and what preventative strategies, may be effective.

The second that Flintshire Council’s Cabinet be asked to consider and report a risk management strategy on the long-term financial consequences of underfunding schools, including the rising cost of education out-of-school, exclusion and youth disengagement.

“We cannot afford to keep underfunding the front line then acting surprised when everything downstream gets more expensive,” she concluded.

She was supported by Flintshire People’s Voice councillor Carolyn Preece. The member for Buckley Bistre West said: “”The cuts are cutting deep now and the effects on our heads, on our teachers on our pupils are showing.

“I think officers are doing a fantastic job but we’re working against a reduced budget on a reduced budget on a reduced budget and the system is cracking now.

“We said this before the budget and that’s why this scrutiny committee voted not to cut education – and then we were overruled.”

Reality

Cllr Bill Crease, a member of Flintshire’s coalition cabinet, supported the idea of supporting schools with more resources, but defended the council’s decision on school budgets.

“We’ve been talking about budget cuts,” he said. “Education didn’t get a budget cut it, it got a 5% u[plift. It got an additional £7 million.

“That is the reality. Education wanted more – in not giving them more we were able to give a little extra to social services to assist with the problems we have with social care.”

Cllr Crease made a clear distinction between the uplift in the schools budget that was given to deliver specific projects and staff pay increases and the top-slicing of 2.5% from the core funding provided to schools.

Fellow cabinet member Cllr Mared Eastwood also defended the schools budget decision.

“Many of the challenges and the impact of the budget options were discussed prior to the budget.,” she said. “In relation to the budsget and the recommendation of this committee  being overturned, the budget was agreed by members of council.

“We did get the commitment for resource to be diverted wherever possible to assist officers in giving focused support to our schools where they need it.`

“Schools are also facing indirect cost implications from things outside our control – such as changes in curriculum and class-based assessments now being done by teachers which adds to the cost of supply staff.”