New report says school funding in Wales is still not transparent

A new Assembly inquiry into school funding has concluded that the funding process is still not transparent and is difficult to understand.

An Assembly report into the so-called “funding fog” was published in 2006.  Now the Enterprise and Learning Committee has held another inquiry into how fully the recommendations of the first report have been met.

This second report, published today, says that almost all respondents to the consultation, including teaching unions, local authorities, school budget fora and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), felt that the funding process is not transparent and is difficult to understand.

In addition, Estyn in their evidence referred to the link between good school buildings and positive learning, saying that, in their view, shortcomings in school accommodation were having a direct impact on the wellbeing of learners.

Estyn noted that the issue of the quality of school toilets had been a continuing concern in their annual reports for several years. The Committee has expressed concern that the issues surrounding health, hygiene and safety in school toilets, raised by the Children’s Commissioner in 2004 and repeatedly raised by Estyn in their annual reports, remain issues of concern in 2008.

Today’s  report recommends that the Welsh Assembly Government should undertake an immediate survey of all schools to establish the state of pupils’ toilets, and then take action with local authorities to make any necessary improvements.

Other recommendations for the Government  include a review of the role of bursars and finance officers, ensuring that the school funding area of the website, currently under development, is clearly advertised by the Assembly Government to parents; teachers; governors, etc, and feedback is sought on the usefulness of the website.

Gareth Jones AM, Chair of the Committee, said: “It is worrying that two years on from the first school funding report, the funding process is still not transparent. We are particularly concerned about the effect that shortcomings in school buildings are having an adverse effect on pupils.

“The Committee is urging the Education Minister to look closely at all our recommendations and respond promptly, so that serious concerns about the funding of our children’s schools can be addressed.”