Freedom Central » education

Welsh Liberal Democrats call on Welsh and UK Government to work together on education funding statistics.

Newswire — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:55:50 +0000

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on the Welsh Government to work with the Coalition in Westminster to ensure that comparable school expenditure statistics can once again be made available.

Last week, it was announced that the ‘Local Authority Budgeted Expenditure on Schools 2011-12: Wales and England Comparison’ was to be discontinued because of changes in education policy in England meant it was not possible to produce comparable figures.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are writing to Chief Statistician Kate Chamberlain, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Education to urge collaboration on publishing these statistics.

Since devolution, the gap in per-pupil spend by councils is reported by the Welsh government’s statistics unit.

Aled Roberts, Shadow Minister for Education, said:

“As our schools have fallen further and further behind schools across the border, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have campaigned relentlessly for the £604 per pupil spending gap with England to be tackled by the Welsh Government. We have always believed that education is the key investment we can make for all our children.

“This commitment was demonstrated when we ensured that there will be an extra £450 that is going directly to schools for every on child on free school meals. But more still needs to be done, which is why we are so disappointed that we are now being told the funding gap figures are not going to be made available this year.

“This problem needs to be resolved, which is why I am writing to the various department involved to work together.

“Questions have to be asked regarding how long the Education Minister knew that the government’s own statistics unit were intending to discontinue publishing these statistics. If the UK Government knew about this earlier, then it is possible this problem could have been averted. It is astounding that the unit believed it was acceptable to make the announcement in such a high handed way.

“It is now imperative the Welsh Government works with the Coalition Government in Westminster to ensure that comparable figures are made available. We believe this can happen, as long as the Welsh Government wants it to happen. I am sure the Welsh Government have always found these statistics to be of particular grim reading, but I hope they accept how important they are at assessing where we are with education spending here in Wales.

“How much money is spent on education is not the most important factor in our children’s education, but it is important. We have teachers and parents who strive for excellence, but while our education system remains underfunded, our schools will sadly remain underperforming.”

Assurances needed over Flying Start delivery

Aled Roberts — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 06:10:20 +0000

The Welsh Government must make sure that adequate resources are available to meet the demands of planned expansion of the Flying Start scheme.

Flying Start is a Welsh Government scheme aimed at providing additional support to families with children under the age of four who live in deprived areas of Wales.

It is a sad fact that only 21% of pupils entitled to free school meals achieve five good GCSEs at grades A* to C. Flying Start has the potential to improve that figure, and the future prospects of Wales’ young people, but concerns remain that resources are already stretched and there is doubt over whether the expansion of the scheme can be adequately manned.

At our Children and Young People Committee in September we were extremely concerned to find that Health Visitors – who are key to the implementation of Flying Start – are already overloaded with family caseloads.

It is clear from the Interim Evaluation, December’s Government-commissioned Evaluation and the joint report from Children in Wales and the Wales Flying Start Co-ordinator’s Network that more time is needed before we can fully understand the identified successes or shortcomings in the Flying Start programme.

It is also evident that results vary across the local authorities and that more needs to be done to share best practice. We need to ensure positive outcomes across the whole of Wales.

I would urge the Welsh Government to make sure that any planned expansion can be fully and effectively resourced by those involved in its delivery.

School statistics farce

Aled Roberts — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:32:55 +0000

It is unbelieveable that key data relating to the funding gap between schools in Wales and England is not to be released.

The announcement for Local Authority Budgeted Expenditure on Schools 2011-12: Wales and England Comparison was said to be delayed because: “This Statistical Bulletin will not be published this year since changes in education policy in England mean it is not possible to produce comparable figures of budgeted expenditure per pupil for England and Wales for this financial year.

As our schools have fallen further and further behind schools across the border, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have campaigned relentlessly for the £604 per pupil spending gap with England to be tackled by the Welsh Government. It has been clear that pupils in Wales’ schools are not getting the support they clearly need. We are therefore hugely disappointed and surprised with this announcement. Serious questions have to be asked about how the Minister’s statistics department have come to this decision and why. We will also be seeking clarification on what information will be included in the Government’s announcement on the 26th January.

Review of school starter assessments welcomed

Aled Roberts — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 06:49:08 +0000

I welcome the news that the way children are assessed when they first start school is to be fully reviewed by an independent expert.

It is vitally important for our children’s futures that educational standards are raised.

The initial assessments undertaken when children first start school are crucial to their development and form the baseline for those futures.

Assessments should not be overly bureaucratic but we do need to create a robust system to ensure the best possible outcome for all our children in Wales. To achieve this, there needs to be a standard all-Wales assessment on admission and a series of regular teacher assessments.

I look forward to seeing and scrutinising the detailed plans for the review when they become available in the new year.

Welsh Liberal Democrats deliver on key manifesto policy

Kirsty Williams — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:07:51 +0000

Earlier this week the Welsh Liberal Democrats helped to vote through the Welsh Labour Government’s 2012-2013 Budget on the basis of securing £32.04 million, of which £20 million is new money, for a Welsh pupil premium to reduce the impact of poverty on educational attainment.

In addition, the Welsh Liberal Democrats were able to agree an Economic Stimulus Package of £38.9 million to be spent on a range of measures to stimulate the economy and protect jobs.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are proud to be backing a budget that delivers on the key Pupil Premium policy that we took to the people of Wales in May.

When money is tight, you have to be clear about your priories. Our priority before the election was to make sure that the most disadvantaged children in this country get the help they need. We are supporting a budget that will make progress towards closing the education funding gap with England – starting with the poorest children. We are also backing a budget that tackles unemployment gives a welcome boost to the economy.

Our approach in Wales has been entirely consistent with the Liberal Democrats in London: working to find agreement with out political opponents in order to put Liberal Democrat policies into practice. Liberal Democrats have persuaded the Conservatives in England of the importance of extra funding for the most deprived children in England. We are pleased that we have now persuaded the Labour party of the same here in Wales.

We must begin to break the link between poverty and attainment that has dogged our education system for so long. This week we have made great steps towards doing that.

Rows – artificial and genuine

Peter Black — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 10:30:09 +0000

Today’s Wales on Sunday reports on a major row between the Welsh Education Minister and English Schools Minister Nick Gibb over a letter the latter wrote to teachers in a last-minute bid to persuade them not to strike over changes to pensions last Wednesday.

Leighton Andrews is of the view that the Westminster Department for Education had been discourteous in not informing Mr Andrews what it was doing. However, as pay and conditions are not devolved and the policy of the Welsh Government is to, quite rightly, not seek that power then it is difficult to see what the Welsh Education Minister’s problem is.

On the other hand, the latest twist in this sage does appear to involve a legitimate complaint on the part of the Welsh Government. They have pointed out that the letter was not bilingual and that therefore it contravenes Welsh language laws.

Frankly, the UK Department of Education response to this, that it had asked for help from the Welsh Government in translating the letter, only to be refused, is pretty feeble. After all they do not even have a Welsh Language Scheme, there are most probably as many Welsh speakers in London as in Cardiff, including a Welsh medium school and other departments manage perfectly well in getting their material translated. More to the point, why go to the Welsh Government, when the Wales Office could have sorted it out for them.

I had expected a bit more respect from the UK Education Department on this issue, after all translating a letter of this nature a week after the event hardly seems adequate. Do they really not get it or are they just trying to make an ill-judged point?

The need to end school class size increases

Aled Roberts — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 06:23:25 +0000

I was very concerned at yesterday’s news that junior and infant class numbers have continued to rise.

Despite a 1999 Government pledge to reduce class sizes, and despite funding being made available to local authorities to address the problem, there are still more than twelve thousand primary school children in Wales who are being taught in classes of more than thirty.

These figures have been rising steadily since 2004.

We know that children who are taught in smaller classes have a better learning experience and a better chance of higher attainment when they are older.

Welsh Liberal Democrats have been calling for smaller class sizes for a number of years. Although class sizes decreased after the Welsh Government’s initial intervention prior to 2004, they have been gradually rising ever since.

It would appear that local authorities are unable to adhere to their statutory duty in respect of infant class sizes and are also struggling to manage junior sizes. We need to know the reasons why that is happening.

Yesterday’s figures should be a wake-up call for the Minister, particularly as the next set of class size figures will not be available until after January 2013. The Minister needs to address this issue now, as a matter of urgency.

A good deal for Welsh Children

Kirsty Williams — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 06:01:34 +0000

On Friday I announced that the Welsh Liberal Democrats will be voting with the Welsh Labour government for the budget on the 6th December.

We have agreed to support the 2012-2013 budget on the basis that we will be introducing a Welsh Pupil Premium. This means that from April 2012, every child in Wales on free schools meals will recieve an extra £450 of funding – no matter where they live, or what school they go to. This is a total Pupil Premium spending of £32 million, of which £20 million is brand new money for the education budget.

Some may see this as an attempt to distance ourselves from the Liberal Democrats in Westminster, due to the coalition. In fact our approach in Wales has been consistent with the Liberal Democrats at a UK level working to find political agreement with our political opponents in order to put Liberal Democrats values and policies into practice.
Nick Clegg has persuaded the Tories in England of the importance of extra funding for our most deprived children. In Wales, I am pleased that we have now persuaded Labour of the same. In both cases we have done exactly what we said we would do before the election.

So this isn’t a matter of political branding, it’s a case of the Welsh Liberal Democrats getting the very best deal we can for the people of Wales. That is what is at stake here.

Agreeing to vote for the Labour government’s budget doesn’t make us a party of the left. Much like going into coalition with the Conservatives in Westminster doesn’t make us a party of the right. Our priority is to advance the policies that we fought the election on.

Welsh Liberal Democrats were not elected to the Assembly to turn our backs on the desperate need to improve education funding in Wales or to reject the need to re-boot the Welsh economy and provide training and hope for those without work.
It would have been easier politically to walk away, but the Welsh Liberal Democrats have instead worked with our political opponents to agree a budget for the good of Wales. We are proud that our influence will make a difference to children in Wales and a welcome boost to the economic recovery.

We may have a small group in the National Assembly, but our influence in these budget negotiations will have a big impact on children’s lives. Thanks to the Welsh Liberal Democrats, we are making huge steps in starting to break the link, school by school, community by community, between poverty and attainment that has dogged our education system for so long.

But let me be clear, this is purely an agreement about the budget for next year. With Labour lacking the ‘comfortable majority’ they predicted before the election, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have had the opportunity to influence the direction of our country. I am proud we have done this in such a positive way.

Student Finance figures don’t add up

Aled Roberts — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:57:51 +0000

The latest announcement by Education Minister Leighton Andrews that he has set aside £3.6 billion to fund student support for the duration of this Assembly has to be questioned.

In making the announcement on National Student Finance Day, the Minister reaffirmed his commitment to funding Welsh-domiciled students.

However, additional notes accompanying the Minister’s announcement state:

“Due to the wide range of uncertainties the figures contained in this notice are only illustrative and are dependent on many underlying assumptions. The models are based on a number of assumptions around student numbers, loan take-up and fee levels. The figures provided are merely an indication of the likely financial consequences.

“There are also inherent risks when producing forecasts for demand-led expenditure and changes to the behaviour of students and institutions could have a significant effect on these assumptions.”

This is all very well in theory, but how does the Minister think he is going to pay for this massive hike in expenditure?

Is this money already included in his budget – which so far has been notoriously difficult to scrutinise – and will other areas be facing cuts?

I have to question whether spending like this is sustainable. A lot of assumptions have been made about take-up figures.

It is also particularly disappointing that the Minister has, yet again, chosen to make his announcement outside the Assembly, giving Members no opportunity to properly scrutinise the decision and its implications.

Warning not to strip University of Wales assets

Freedom Central — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 05:40:54 +0000

The BBC report that a union has warned against stripping assets from the University of Wales (UoW) while the debate continues over the institution’s future.

They say that Lleu Williams of UCU Wales has responded to calls from Geraint Talfan Davies, chair of the Institute of Welsh Affairs and former controller of BBC Wales, for the UoW to be broken up and its assets distributed to other Welsh universities.

Mr Williams said: “All our energies must be focused on delivering a new institution for south west Wales.

“We must not be side tracked by arguments about who should have what.

“These are difficult times for everyone involved at the University of Wales, but allowing it to be asset stripped risks jeopardising the best solution to its current problems.”

He added: “UCU Wales believes the merger is the solution to the current problems.

“The new vice-chancellor has made it quite clear that what brought about the institution’s downfall has been stamped out and that any new provision will be subject to thorough and stringent quality assurance practices.”