Responding as the First Minister today refused to answer questions on how £339m of additional education funding has been allocated, school leaders’ union NAHT Cymru has called for urgent further budget scrutiny.

NAHT Cymru revealed that £339m came to the Welsh Government as a result of extra education spending in England for the 2026/27 draft budget, but only £39m has been allocated to core school budgets.

This week an additional £112.8m was allocated to Local Government following a deal between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru, and some of that money will come to schools.

But when the Welsh Local Government Association is predicting a £137m shortfall in school budgets in Wales for the next financial year, this money will only go so far, especially when Local Authorities are also facing a £200m social care deficit.

When the First Minister appeared before the Senedd’s scrutiny committee today, she refused to give a straight answer to the questions posed by Labour's Jenny Rathbone, Plaid Cymru’s Cefin Campbell and Conservative MS Mark Isherwood on education consequentials, and instead said that, because of devolution, it is not the case that consequential funding is simply passported, and repeatedly talked about the fact that the Welsh Government allocated 7% more per pupil funding in Wales than England.

NAHT Cymru’s National Secretary Laura Doel has raised serious concerns following the First Minister’s evidence, saying:

“It is unbelievable that, despite repeated attempts by all parties to get the First Minister to answer the question on consequential funding, she refused to give a straight answer. She instead focused on how much more is allocated per pupil in Wales than England – but as we all know, that is not the amount of money that actually reaches schools, so we would question that figure.

“Local Authorities rightly have to retain some of that money to run support services, so to imply that more money comes to schools is disingenuous.

“School leaders are crying out for answers on the consequential funding and, while we appreciate the Welsh Government and Local Authorities have the autonomy to make funding decisions, you cannot dodge this question. If the government has chosen to spend it on something else, they should say where and justify their actions.

“Whatever spin the Welsh Government puts on it, schools don’t have enough money to provide for our learners. More money was given by the UK Government, and we are demanding to know where it’s gone.”

#FairFundingNow