THE leader of Newport City Council has hit back at criticism of the council’s draft budget from  secondary schools.

Councillor Debbie Wilcox, reacting to reports today, said: “At the meeting of cabinet held on Monday, an additional £1.1m was added to the schools’ budget for 2017/2018 - clearly acknowledging the importance placed on education by Newport City Council.” 

And she added: “This is in addition to the cash surplus schools are carrying forward to 2017/18 which is forecast to be £3.9m

It comes as Newport teaching staff hit out over the draft budget plans, which they claim could see secondary schools face a combined deficit totalling millions of pounds, in the Argus.

Specifically, school business managers are said to have estimated a projected deficit of more than £2.5m facing Newport’s eight secondary schools. 

They also claimed that when the need to fund the new Ysgol Gyfun Gwent Is Coed school is taken into account, the predicted overall total rises to more than £2.8m.

But cllr Wilcox, who has led Newport council since 2016, has disputed the figures. 

“Individual schools have been supported by the council to keep those balances in light of austerity measures predicted," she said.

Cllr Wilcox also said that the running of each schools’ individual finances are “ultimately the responsibility” of school governing bodies and head teachers.

“Like all other council services, they have to manage their operations from within available resources,” she added.

“Even though the money available to the council has been drastically cut, schools have had their budgets increased by 19 per cent over the last five years – over and above the Welsh Government pledge.

“Last year alone, schools were awarded a 4.5 per cent increase on their individual budgets – the highest growth in Wales.” 

Cllr Wilcox also highlighted the progress which has been made in both the primary and secondary sector in Newport. 

She said: “Newport’s schools are clearly receiving levels of funding that support them to achieve ever improving results – Newport’s primaries have just topped the tables in the recent school categorisations, with the highest proportion in Wales ranked in the top categories.  

Secondary school standards also continue to rise with the best ever Level 2 inclusive results achieved last summer (five GCSEs or equivalent at grade A*-C, including English or Welsh first language and mathematics).”
Councillors will vote on the draft budget on Thursday March 2.