More schools face unpalatable cuts, warns union

Maes y Morfa Community School in Llanelli is one of a growing number of schools having to make unpalatable choices over what to cut, a union says

Schools are laying off staff, cutting behaviour support and delaying building repairs due to a crisis in school budgets, a union has warned.

One head teacher facing a deficit of over £100,000 said she was braced for the school's astronomical utility bills going into winter.

A National Association of Headteachers Cymru survey found that every member who responded said they did not have enough funding to fully meet the needs of pupils.

The Welsh government said it was protecting school funding as much as possible, but it said councils, not itself, set their budgets.

Head teacher Louise Jones says a "generation of children" is being affected by school budget cuts

Maes y Morfa Community School in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, has almost 200 pupils and has already had to cut two teaching staff, while other employees have reduced their hours.

Despite these steps, head teacher Louise Jones expects the budget to be in deficit by about £110,000 next year. But the needs at the schools are increasing.

"We’ve got so many more children that need high levels of support now that we don’t have the funding to be able to accommodate and it’s very, very worrying," she said.

"We’ve got issues with utility payments that are astronomical and the costs of those are getting higher and higher as we go into the winter," she said.

With everyone stretched, staff wellbeing is suffering and that can have an impact on pupils' experience.

"I’m finding that less staff want to do extra-curricular activities and clubs and things after school because they’re much more tired.

"The whole system really is starting to unravel," Ms Jones added.

NAHT Cymru's Laura Doel says "it beggars belief" that school funding was not on First Minister Eluned Morgan's list of priorities

A survey of 416 National Association of Headteachers members in Wales found that more than half were expecting a budget deficit in this academic year - a significant increase on last year's response.

The school leaders, mainly in primary schools, reported cutting teaching posts, teaching assistants and their hours.

Most said that support for pupils with additional learning needs was a major cost as well as increased salaries and supply staff to cover lessons.

Laura Doel of NAHT Cymru said schools were facing really unpalatable choices because of holes in budgets and called for local authorities and the Welsh government to come together to address the crisis.

“We feel our schools are being failed by lack of investment," she added.

"Failure to invest in the learners of Wales will have a detrimental impact on their future.”

The Welsh government said councils were responsible for setting budgets.

“The amount of funding set aside for school budgets, including funding for school staff, is for local authorities to determine, we do not fund schools directly," a spokesperson said.

“We have increased local government funding and reprioritised the education budget so we can protect school funding as much as possible, spending more in areas under the greatest pressure,” she added.

Welsh Conservatives said Labour had overseen a decline in standards since they had been in charge in Cardiff Bay and pledged to save Labour’s lost generation.

“Labour’s mismanagement of the education budget has already impacted negatively on schools across Wales, further cuts will do untold damage to our children’s future", said Tory education spokesperson Tom Giffard.