Calls for Welsh Councils to Receive Consequential Funding for Rising Additional Learning Needs Demand

Calls have been made for consequential funding to be passed on to Welsh councils to help deal with pressures from rising additional learning needs demand.
A notice of motion from the Labour group which was passed by Rhondda Cynon Taf full council on Wednesday, July 1, mentions the proposed Welsh Government package of £294m of new spending with £40m to be allocated to repairs to schools, £55m on childcare, and £100m for NHS waiting times.
It says this money being spent is a consequential from the UK Government providing extra cash in England for special educational needs debts, or additional learning needs (ALN) as it is known in Wales.
But the motion says the council is disappointed that none of the consequential funding is being allocated to respond to the pressures caused by rising ALN demand here in Wales.
It says the Welsh Government acknowledges ALN expenditure has grown 2.5 times faster than overall educational spend in the last 10 years and it is on a trajectory to reach a £1bn spend within a few years and without extra funding this makes it harder for the council to meet the needs of families and added to wider funding pressures.
It called on the council leader to write as a matter of urgency to the finance minister outlining the council’s view and urging the Welsh Government to reconsider this decision and ask that they provide extra funding for ALN support.
It also called on the council leader to write to each opposition Senedd group to seek their support for the important funding to be passported as part of any discussions they may have with the Welsh Government to enable the supplementary budget to be passed by the Senedd.
It called on the council leader to write to local Senedd Members representing the constituencies covering Rhondda Cynon Taf to seek their support for the funding to be passported and for the council leader to write to the Senedd’s finance committee chair and outline the impact the decision not to passport any extra funding onto local government could have for children with
additional learning needs and public sector services.
Cllr Maureen Webber, Labour deputy leader of the council, said they welcome the extra funding under the supplementary budget and she’s sure these are priorities all members would support.
But she said it was important to remember there was money coming as a result of consequentials, a total of £340m for Wales, with some of that money to address debt issues in schools with additional learning needs.
She said: “We are all painfully aware that ALN is a growing pressure on local authority budgets and the new Welsh Government has recognised that this is an issue affecting every council in Wales.”
She said their concern as well as those of many other councils, unions, and third sector groups is that not one penny of this funding will be allocated at the moment to support ALN in Wales.
“Passporting of the funding would have gone some way to easing that pressure while a longer-term solution can be found.”
Plaid Cymru had submitted an amendment to the notice of motion which wasn’t passed but said the money being spent is as a result of using funding left unallocated by the previous Welsh Government, to enable the new Welsh Government to invest in its priorities, as well as a result of consequential funding from UK Government.
It also says: “The council agrees with the position and principles of both the previous and the new Welsh Government that, as a matter of fundamental constitutional principle, spending decisions arising from UK Government consequentials are for the Welsh Government to determine.
“They should be allocated according to Wales’s priorities and not dictated or constrained by spending choices made by Westminster governments.”
It also said Plaid Cymru in the Senedd secured £112.8m in additional funding for local government during the last budget negotiation and mentioned the new Plaid Cymru government’s commitments to work with local authorities, including RCT County Borough Council, to ensure they are placed on a sustainable financial footing for long-term ALN provision and for the delivery of all public services.
Their amendment called for the council leader to urge the Welsh Government to provide sustainable funding for ALN support as part of a longer-term investment plan for ALN across multiple financial years.
Plaid Cymru councillor Wiliam Rees said teaching unions raised concerns last year the then-finance minister Make Drakeford allocated only £39m of the £339m in consequentials to education in Wales.
He said they didn’t hear any protest from Labour members in the chamber regarding that decision at the time.
He said that was because Mr Drakeford recognised, as the new finance minister Elin Jones recognises now, that consequential funding isn’t ringfenced and it’s available to Welsh Government to allocate in accordance with their and the people of Wales’ priorities.
He said ALN needs further investment but added “that investment must be sustainable, planned, and delivered over multiple years not through a one-off payment halfway through a financial year,” adding: “I believe it is slightly disappointing that the new Plaid Cymru government is being asked to resolve something in just over 27 days when Labour had had 27 years in government to try and sort this out.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​