Agenda item

To receive a verbal update on matters relating to Grants in 2025/26.

The verbal report was submitted by the Schools Group Accountant.

It was explained that the Welsh Government has announced additional grants for 2024/25 at the end of the Christmas term.

The Council was pleased to have received an increase to five of the grants, namely: Teachers' Pension Grant, Standards Grant, ALN Co-ordinator Support Grant and ALN Provision Grant. The total increase was reported to be around £3.7million. It was explained that this funding would increase school balances as they had not had the opportunity to plan the spending.

Members were reminded that approximately £200,000 of the Integration Allocation had been set aside at the start of the financial year to ensure that funding was available if out-of-county children moved to be educated in Gwynedd. It was positive that the majority of integration panels had now been held and around £120,000 of this funding remained, which would be shared back to the schools.

It was confirmed that the pay rise for teachers and support staff was higher than had been anticipated by the Department at the beginning of the financial year. It was emphasised that approximately £713,000 of grant funding was available to compensate schools for this increase in teachers' salaries, and an additional £324,000 to compensate for support staff salaries, in an effort to ensure that schools did not overspend on these factors within their individual budgets.

It was also noted that an adjustment was being made following a reduction in inflation in relation to schools' gas costs. It was explained that more money had been allocated than needed as the projected prices at the beginning of the financial year were higher than the actual cost.

Further information was provided on the relevant grants for 2025/26. It was reported that four new grants were being introduced to schools from 2025/26 forward following a review by the Government, including: - School Standards, Equity, Reform and Cymraeg 2050 grants. It was confirmed that there was an increase of around 9.4% in total grants between 2024/25 and 2025/26 which was slightly higher than current inflation rates. It was clarified that the Equity grant did not include a Pupil Development Grant at this point. It was explained that the School Standards grant was an increase of £245,292 from the funding provided in 2024/25 which would go directly to the schools. It was reported that the Equity grant was allocated to the Department and set restrictions on how the money could be spent in order to comply with the terms of the grant.

Details were provided on the Reform grant, which provided the 'ALN Provision' grant funding. It was detailed that the total grant allocation was less than had been received in 2024/25 albeit a slight reduction.

Attention was drawn to the main Pupil Development Grant totalling £2,827,850 during the 2024/25 financial year. It was noted that no details had been shared in relation to these grants for 2025/26 onwards and that the Council was awaiting further guidance on the total of these grants in the near future.

The Welsh Government was thanked for sharing information about the grants earlier than usual, enabling the Department and schools to plan the use of the funding appropriately for the 2025/26 financial year.