Flintshire: Schools facing ‘perfect storm’ of funding pressure and increasing demand for ALN support

Flintshire is facing a perfect storm of increasingly complex additional learning needs in schools, post-covid impacts, falling pupil numbers and financial pressure that schools simply cannot cope with.

That was the fear expressed by Hawarden, Ewloe councillor Dave Mackie at Thursday’s meeting of Flintshire County Council’s Education, Youth & Culture Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

They were discussing a report on funding for specialist provision and additional learning needs (ALN).

There was widespread praise for the creative work being done by schools and headteachers to deliver support for the increasing number of pupils presenting with ALN and the increasing complexity of their support needs.

But the committee had serious concerns that funding pressures could soon force schools to prioritise support for those most in need.

It was also revealed that there is, for the first time, a waiting list for out of county provision for those pupils with requiring the most specialist support, as all available places are now full.

“We are experiencing a perfect storm of cuts in school funding, problems from Covid which you can’t ignore, reduction in school rolls and the need to for ALN provision,”said Cllr Mackie.

“This could lead to some very very serious problems. We know schools have had to reduce their staff and  the point about specific individual care is it requires staff.

“We must acknowledge the scale of the financial pressures in order to make suitable provision.

“Clearly we are in a perfect storm not of our own making and we are expecting schools to cope. I think we are expecting too much.”

Jeanette Rock,  Flintshire’s senior manager for inclusion and progression, said that in 15 years she had never seen so much legitimate demand for additional educational support.

“We really are seeing increased levels of need and complexity,” she said. “I’ve worked in this role for 15 years and never seen this level of legitimate need.

“Out of county provision is full. We have a challenge to find suitable places for our children and we have a waiting list for the first time.

“A number of our children are struggling to engage with larger school buildings and it’s fair to say that our primary sector are feeling the pinch.”

There was tentatively good news in the report. A feasibility study in 2018 identified the council needed to invest £38m in specialist facilities for pupils with specific needs. That bid has been submitted to the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities Fund and is being reviewed to ensure planned works are still fit for purpose.

But concerns over operational funding led to a recommendation that the committee ask full council to requisition the £1.2m of additional funding given to the authority as part of the Welsh Local Government Settlement to further support ALN provision in the county.

“I have noted we are in a red risk area for funding,” said Buckley Bistre West Cllr Carolyn Preece. “Where will the money come from to support this.

“The Welsh Government seriously needs to recognise we are still feeling the effect of Covid. We need more provision, more funding for this specialist educational delivery that is a mandatory statutory provision because the outcome of good ALN support is amazing, it enriches people’s lives.

I would like to recommend that we request that £1.2m of additional money received by the council in the budget be given to the education budget because our schools really need this.”

The committee supported the recommendation.

By Alec Doyle – Local Democracy Reporter

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