Wrthi'n llwytho
Does dim crynodeb o'r cyfarfod hwn eto. Caiff crynodebau eu hysgrifennu pan fydd y cyngor yn cyhoeddi'r cofnodion, sef ei gofnod swyddogol o'r hyn a benderfynodd cyfarfod. Maen nhw fel arfer yn ymddangos ychydig wythnosau ar ôl y cyfarfod.
Response by the Cabinet Member: I am monitoring the financial positions of high and all-age schools in Powys closely. I understand that this is a particularly challenging situation for these schools. As you say, the new secondary phase funding formula is providing a greater level of funding to high and all-age schools than the previous formula. The pressures of rising energy costs and increased wages is a challenge across the whole of the authority’s budgets. The additional costs were included within the budget papers that all councillors received. The Schools Budget Forum was also consulted on the proposals in November 2022, as is required by the School Forums (Wales) regulations 2003. There is a historical aspect to the need to reduce staffing numbers in schools. Pupil numbers have been declining for some time and some schools have not responded to this by reducing staffing correspondingly. Following the initial intense financial support visits in the secondary sector, evidence suggests that the average subject class sizes in Powys are relatively small and there is scope for this to rise without a deterioration in the standard and quality of education in Powys. This is an area that needs to be further explored to support with the effective deployment of the budget. It is often the case that the smaller high schools will offer more options for year 10 and 11 and post-16 than the formula and post-16 grant allocation funds which puts the school’s budget under pressure, as more teachers are employed than the school is funded for. The high school that closed to become part of the all-age school was in this situation. As the curriculum was already set prior to the all-age school being established, it is now suffering the consequences of the previous school’s decisions. Both the previous and the new funding formulae are designed to provide equitable shares of funding to schools based on the relative need to spend of those schools to enable equitable provision for all learners in Powys. The funding is distributed on the basis of their pupil numbers, while also taking into account the individual characteristics of each school. These characteristics include whether the schools are single medium or dual stream, as well as premises related costs which depend on the size and condition of the premises, and includes an element for business rates, which can vary significantly from school to school. Each school’s governing body is consulted on any proposed changes to the school funding formula and the views expressed as part of the consultation, although limited on this occasion, are taken into account when the final proposals are put to Schools Forum and Cabinet for approval. The new secondary phase formula introduced an age weighted per pupil funding amount that is the same across all high / secondary phase schools in Powys. These base amounts are then supplemented for the unique characteristics of individual schools, such as dual stream, or being a small school, or a school with more than one secondary campus. As mentioned above the changes to the secondary phase funding formula introduced from April 2023 has resulted in an increase of funding to secondary phase schools overall. The comparison of relative increases in school funding with other Welsh authorities does not take into account the starting point (Powys’ Schools budgeted expenditure per pupil was the third highest in Wales in 2022-23) nor the increases in previous years. A new funding formula, based on an initial allocation of the same funding per pupil, was introduced in April 2023 and all schools were consulted in advance of it being agreed and implemented. The aim of the new Powys secondary phase school funding formula is to enable the delivery of equitable provision across all our schools, whether in Welsh or in English and must provide for a certain breadth of curriculum offer, even in the smallest schools. Consequently, I do not agree that the newly agreed and implemented formula is unfair. The current formula funding system for schools is set out in the School Funding (Wales) Regulations 2010 and requires the local school funding formula to be agreed locally, by the local authority working with its schools, in order to share the quantum of delegated schools budget equitably between schools. This allows local circumstances to be taken into account while also complying with the requirement that at least 70% of the formula is based on pupil numbers. If the suggestion is that this system needs to change, presumably this would be to advocate a move to a national school funding formula. If so, I would be concerned as to whether that national formula would adequately reflect the additional costs of providing secondary education in sparsely populated areas. It is often the case that distribution formulae, whether national or local are considered unfair when the real issue is the overall quantum of funding made available for education by the UK government. School funding is provided on a financial year basis and the funding per pupil for all High and All-age schools is set out in table 1 below. Table 1 School No. of pupils[1] Surplus places[2] Budget share per pupil (£) FY 2023-24 Characteristics Llanidloes High School 676 16 5,695 Single campus, dual stream school, both streams small Newtown High School 968 480 5,682 2 secondary campus, single language school, with 1 campus being small Welshpool High School 811 370 5,090 Large, single campus, single language school Ysgol Maes-y-Dderwen 538 168 5,600 Small single campus single language school Brecon High School 549 211 6,177 Single campus, dual stream school, Welsh stream extremely small Gwernyfed High School 524 89 5,568 Small single campus single language school Crickhowell High School 947 -35 4,828 Large, single campus, single language school Ysgol Calon Cymru 994 407 5,843 2 secondary campus, dual stream school, with both campuses and both streams being small Ysgol Bro Hyddgen 382 273 7,762 Small single campus, dual stream, all-age school Llanfyllin All Through School 678 424 6,458 Single campus, dual stream, all-age school, both streams small Ysgol Bro Caereinion 522 276 6,601 Small single campus, dual stream, all-age school 7,589 2,679 The main reason for the variation in per pupil funding is due to variation in the school and therefore class sizes across Powys. In the secondary phase in particular, the curriculum drives the need to spend and there is a need to be able to provide a certain breadth of curriculum regardless of how small a school is. The larger a school is the more sustainable a broad curriculum offer becomes. For example, the total average teacher cost in high schools in Powys is approximately £65,000, so for each class there is a teacher cost of £65,000, regardless of the number of pupils in that class. The impact that this has on the funding required per pupil is demonstrated in table 2 below: Table 2 Pupil numbers Cost per pupil (£) 5 13,000 10 6,500 15 4,333 20 3,250 25 2,600 30 2,167 Table 1 also shows the surplus places at each secondary phase school which also impacts on the budget shares as schools are funded for premises costs on their gross internal floor area. Given the general reduction in pupil numbers, most schools are operating significantly below their capacity, but still incur the cost of the surplus spaces. Table 3 below sets out the increase in the Schools Services Indicator Based Assessment (IBA) in each of the last 5 years along with the increases in the Schools Delegated and the Schools Service budgets. The IBA includes Welsh Government funding and an assumed contribution from council tax. Table 3: 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 £k £k £k £k £k Total Education related IBA 97,855 104,901 108,692 115,880 121,795 Change in Total Education related IBA 7,046 3,791 7,188 5,915 % Change in Total Education related IBA 7.2% 3.6% 6.6% 5.1% From RA form data Total School Delegated Expenditure[3] 69,636 75,992 79,256 81,577 85,373 Change in School Delegated Expenditure from previous year 6,356 3,264 2,321 3,796 % Change in School Delegated Expenditure from previous year 9.1% 4.3% 2.9% 4.7% Total Education / School Non-Delegated Expenditure (including school transport and school meals) 25,978 28,559 28,058 30,422 32,688 Change in Education / School Non-delegated Expenditure from previous year 2,581 -501 2,364 2,266 % Change in Education / School Non-delegated Expenditure from previous year 9.9% -1.8% 8.4% 7.4% Total Education Expenditure 95,614 104,551 107,314 111,999 118,061 Change in Total Education Expenditure 8,937 2,763 4,685 6,062 % Change in Total Education Expenditure 9.3% 2.6% 4.4% 5.4% This table shows clearly that all of the increase in the School Services IBA and more was passed on to Schools and Schools Service in 2023-24. The Schools Services IBA does not distinguish between the funding for schools and the funding for schools service but the School Funding (Wales) Regulations 2010 does specify the expenditure that must be accounted for centrally and what elements may be held centrally rather than distributed to schools. Examples of expenditure that must be accounted for centrally includes School Improvement Services and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) while examples of expenditure that may be held centrally include funding for maternity leave cover costs and provision of sporting facilities. The extract below from the Welsh Government Statistical Bulletin “Local Authority Budgeted Expenditure on Schools: 2022-23” shows that the 2022-23 average spend per pupil in Powys of £7,359 is the third highest in Wales. [1] Total pupil numbers as at November 2022 as utilised to determine funding allocations [2] School capacities by LDP settlement – October 2022 [3] These figures differ from those in the Council budget papers as they include internal recharges, which decreased by £1.5m between 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Rhaid i gynghorwyr ddweud pan fydd ganddyn nhw gysylltiad personol â rhywbeth sy'n cael ei drafod, fel swydd, eiddo neu aelod o'r teulu. Mae buddiant sy'n rhagfarnu yn ddigon cryf i'r cynghorydd adael yr ystafell fel arfer a pheidio â chymryd rhan.
Caiff datganiadau eu darllen o'r cofnodion unwaith y byddan nhw wedi'u cyhoeddi.
Dyw'r cyngor ddim wedi cofnodi presenoldeb ar gyfer y cyfarfod hwn.
Yn rhestru cynghorwyr presennol y cyngor yn unig. Nid yw aelodau cyfetholedig, swyddogion a chyn-gynghorwyr yn cael eu dangos.