Committee votes not to protect schools’ budgets from cuts

Councillors who voted against protecting Conwy school budgets from cuts have come under fire.

Cllr Anne McCaffrey has slammed a decision by fellow councillors, accusing them of proposing to ‘salami slice’ school budgets.

At a Conwy County Council finance and resources overview and scrutiny committee, councillors debated how it could make £7.4m savings – the authority’s shortfall in 2022/23.

Councillors were discussing a report that will form the basis of the draft budget and council tax increase. The matter will then go to full council before a final decision.

Despite receiving a 9.5% increase in its settlement from Welsh Government, the report highlighted the council now had more responsibilities – and a larger shortfall in finances.
Cllr Harry Saville summed up how the authority proposes to make savings by covering the cost with council reserves, upping council tax and cutting service budgets.

The proposals included three options of a 1%, 2% and 3% cut to the education budget, which would result in an estimated £2m chopped from schools’ budgets at the highest rate.
“Am I right in thinking we are trying to get to that £7.4m figure?” said Cllr Saville.
“You can put in earmarked reserves of £709,000; council tax increases of £888,000; budget reductions of £5.019m; a reduced business case of £785,000, and that is the total £7.401m figure that we need to find.”
“Yes,” replied Amanda Hughes, Conwy’s director of finance.

Cllr Anne McCaffrey proposed school budgets should be protected from cuts, insisting ‘dis-investing’ in schools as a serious risk. But her fellow councillors voted against her proposal 9-5 with two abstentions.

Cllr Anne commented: “Gwynedd primary schools enjoy an extra £412 per pupil funding.  Anglesey primary schools enjoy an extra £286 per pupil funding.
“Conwy schools need investment now, not cuts to their school budgets. With the impact of Covid 19 on our pupils and staff, on top of the launch of the new Curriculum for Wales in September 2022, the case for protecting Conwy schools has never been more compelling!”

She added: “We protected schools this year when we had a much lower Welsh Government settlement. To cut schools now when we have the biggest settlement in a decade makes no sense to me.
 “April 2022 will see councils across Wales enjoying the highest funding settlement from Welsh Government for over a decade.
“Conwy County Council’s new settlement is a 9.5% increase, yet cabinet are recommending a salami slice approach to all services including schools.
 “So far, neighbouring councils are not cutting schools budgets, and I can’t see many doing what’s being proposed at Conwy.
“Primary schools are at particular risk from this salami slicing budget cuts approach. Primary Schools in Conwy are already funded below the Wales average. Conwy currently ranks 13th out of 22 councils in core school funding.
 “I don’t want our children and their parents to have to face a postcode lottery in their choice of school.”

Councillors heard how Conwy had the ninth lowest council tax in Wales but were warned not to look at percentage increases elsewhere.

Conwy’s director of finance Amanda Hughes told councillors that Denbighshire had agreed a 2.95% council tax increase – a figure also proposed by Gwynedd. Ms Hughes said Conwy could increase council tax by 3.95% and still offer a lower council tax rate than its neighbouring counties. She told councillors not to compare percentage increases.
 “I really would draw attention to a concern that you could look at the headline percentages, without considering the underlying figure,” she said.
 “Don’t forget that percentage, in our case, applies to a lower figure in the first place.”

She added: “It would be very much in the interests to catch up over time to at least the standard spending assessment level of council tax if not the Welsh average.
“But I would strongly recommend that council tax is set no lower than the 3.49% assumed by Welsh Government – and if preferable higher”

Councillors voted to suggest to cabinet that service budget savings were capped at around 2% but wanted further information before making a final recommendation. But an amendment was also included, advising cabinet should be able to accept higher savings if a council service was able to make them.

Whilst a 3.95% increase in council tax was proposed, the committee advised the amount should be as low as possible.

Eleven councillors voted in favour of the proposals and two against. Three councillors abstained.

By Richard Evans – Local Democracy Reporter