Nearly nine in 10 school leaders in Wales say they will have to make budget cuts to afford this year’s pay award.
A survey by the school leaders’ union NAHT Cymru, of more than 800 members, found that 87 per cent will have to make cuts to help fund the 2023-24 award for teachers and leaders.
All 22 local authorities in Wales have informed NAHT officials that they cannot offer the additional money the union says is crucial to ensure the much-needed salary uplift is fully funded.
In the survey report, Fair Funding for Wales, 76 per cent of school leaders said they do not have enough headroom in this year’s budget to cover the pay award for teachers and leaders.
Members were most likely to report that they will have to reduce investment in equipment for the school (71 per cent), cut teaching assistants’ hours (66 per cent) and reduce staffing costs by not recruiting when staff leave or retire (58 per cent).
Some 50 per cent said they will have to reduce spending on additional, targeted support for pupils, while 44 per cent said senior leaders will have to take on additional teaching responsibilities. Meanwhile, 42 per cent said they will need to reduce non-contact time for their additional learning needs coordinator.
Nearly a third (31 per cent) said they will be forced to reduce the hours of teaching staff, and cut non-educational support and services for children (32 per cent), while a quarter said they will need to scale back or change the curriculum (24 per cent).
More than half said they will have to cut the maintenance budget (53 per cent), delay repairs or refurbishment (52 per cent) or reduce energy use (37 per cent).
NAHT Cymru says the issues stem from reductions in UK government funding to Wales, with real-terms funding for schools falling by about 6 per cent since 2009-10.
The Welsh government has maintained a number of grant funding streams to try to support schools through the Pupil Development Grant. But it has had to propose reductions of £11.5 million to the universal primary free school meals programme, £40 million to capital funding from the sustainable communities for learning programme and £8.5 million from the post-16 budget.
‘Breaking point’
NAHT Cymru national secretary Laura Doel said the 2023-24 pay deal was “much-needed after a decade of severe real-terms pay cuts”, which were impacting efforts to recruit and retain staff. However, schools were struggling to balance the books before the award and are “now at breaking point and facing really unpalatable decisions” because the deal had not been fully funded.
She urged the government and local authorities “to ensure all schools have the funding they need both to deliver fair pay for staff and offer the learning experience pupils deserve”.
NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman added that Welsh heads are facing “terrible choices” and the survey findings are “a real cause for alarm”.
He said: “This new report isn’t about playing the blame game. It’s about urging politicians and public servants to acknowledge the unsustainable pressures facing schools in Wales and the impact they will continue to have on children’s education without urgent action.”
Call to protect education
NAHT Cymru is calling for school budgets across Wales to be properly and equally funded to cover the cost of the pay award, and it wants a commitment from local authorities and the Welsh government to protect education funding.
The Welsh government says it provided a 7.9 per cent increase in the local government settlement for 2023-24, and meeting the cost of the 5 per cent rise in teacher pay from September 2023 should be considered in this context.
A Welsh government spokesperson told Tes that the government had protected school funding as much as possible, “spending more in areas under the greatest pressure and increasing the Welsh government grants going directly to schools”.
However, he said that the UK government’s austerity agenda meant overall funding was insufficient and the 2024-25 draft budget had “presented the most stark budget choices for Wales in the devolution era”.
He added: “We will continue to work with bodies and individuals across the sector to ensure the best possible outcomes for our learners.”
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