New group to help schools tackle education budget pressures

Head teachers, governors, councillors and council officers are teaming up in the Education Strategic Group to bring together innovative ways to continue to provide quality education and help pupils attain in the current difficult financial climate.The move is part of the council’s determination to give relative prioritisation to frontline education ahead of other services in the years ahead.The Council is helping ease pressure on schools by keeping the budget reduction in education down to 3.25% by making as much funding available to them as possible, cutting back on the council’s budget for central education services and working with schools.Rob Stewart, Swansea Council Leader, said: “Swansea Council is facing the enormous task of finding £81 million of cuts in the next three years and that’s having an impact on school budgets, too.

“We have managed to keep the education budget reduction to 3.25% but on top of that schools have to manage extra funding pressures over which we have no control at all, including teachers’ pay rises and pensions contributions, reductions in Welsh Government grants and pupil numbers.

“Our commitment to continuing to support schools also means that schools will benefit first from any additional sums of money which become available to the council in future. In the meantime, we will be supporting schools to find ways to protect the quality of education in the city and boost pupil attainment.”

Apart from supporting schools through the budget process, the council is also in the middle of a sustained school building programme which has seen the £22 million Morriston Comprehensive School refurbishment completed and the opening of a new primary school at Burlais in September this year, with more new schools to follow in future.

And to help ensure as much funding is available to schools as possible, the Council has cut almost £2 million from its central education budget in 2014/2015 and a further £1.4 million in 2015/2016. It is also making greater cuts in other areas of the Council’s work to free up funding for education.

The money available will be better targeted at local education needs with record percentages of education funding going direct to schools to control –  86.49% in 2015 to 2016.

Schools are also being given the opportunity to decide whether or not to buy in services from the Council , including everything from human resources and legal support to cleaning and music provision so they can go to other providers if they need to seek out a more cost-effective option.

The new Education Strategic Group will play its role as an innovation and ideas forum, drawing together schools, head teachers, governors, councillors and council officers to develop coherent financial strategies for education in the years to come.