Wales' minority Plaid government is making a last-minute offer of £120m over three years for additional learning needs (ALN) education to secure Labour's backing for its first supplementary budget, as it faces a critical vote on July 14.
Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth wrote to Labour's interim leader in Wales, Ken Skates, on Monday, proposing £40m per year for ALN provision. This falls short of Labour's demand for £100m in the current year but aims to win support for the budget, which covers spending of approximately £411m.
Plaid's Offer and Labour's Response
In his letter, Mr ap Iorwerth stated: "It was proposed by your team that a sum of £100m should be made available to ALN as part of Supplementary Budget negotiations. Given your determination to pursue this as part of negotiations, and my equal determination to address the ALN issue, my Government is ready, with your agreement, to go further, investing £120m directly into ALN provision over the course of the next three years - £40m per year – ensuring sustained strengthening of ALN provision and building the sustainability needed."
At the time of writing, the Plaid group was awaiting a response from Labour. The vote on the supplementary budget is scheduled for Tuesday, July 14.
Details of the Supplementary Budget
The draft spending plans, published last month, allocate £20m to boost social housing supply, £40m to improve school buildings, and £5m for local buildings and shared spaces. It also includes £8m to extend the £1 bus fare pilot for young people, £2m to support a north-south bus service starting in early autumn, £2m for a pilot of the Cynnal scheme providing £10 weekly payments per child to lower-income families, and £2m for school swimming lessons.
The supplementary budget updates the main Welsh Government spending plans, which total approximately £27bn. The process for the next financial year's budget will begin in autumn.
Consequences of Defeat
Without Labour's support, the budget is set to fail. While losing the vote does not trigger automatic penalties, it would be a symbolic loss for Plaid, highlighting the difficulty of garnering cross-party agreement. Plaid needs at least six Senedd Members from other parties to pass legislation.
The extra funding comes from £40m left over by former Labour finance minister Mark Drakeford, £46m from the UK Government, and £327m from the UK Government's Spring Statement—most of which is allocated to write off special educational needs and disabilities (SEN) deficits held by English councils.
Plaid's Pressures and Conservative Options
First Minister ap Iorwerth told Labour that his administration faces £333m of in-year pressures for the NHS alone. He expressed disappointment that Labour "chose to change its longstanding position on fairer funding for Wales and voted against the government."
Plaid could also seek support from the Conservatives, whose seven votes would be sufficient. Conservative leader Darren Millar has raised the ALN budget in Senedd contributions.
A petition on the Senedd website, started by NAHT Cymru, calling for the full £100m to be spent on ALN in Wales, has reached over 10,000 signatures.
NAHT Cymru's Concerns
NAHT Cymru assistant general secretary Rob Kelsall said: "The figures currently being discussed fall well short of what is required. Without substantial investment, there is a very real risk that the system will become increasingly unable to meet the needs of the very children it exists to support. That should concern everyone."
He added: "We are also concerned by proposals to split funding equally between local authorities and schools. School leaders have seen too many instances where funding intended for frontline support fails to reach the children and young people for whom it was intended. Any additional investment must be transparent, accountable and directed to where it can have the greatest impact. Schools are best placed to identify need and provide support quickly and effectively."
Welsh Government deputy minister Nerys Evans told the BBC on Sunday that Labour was "playing politics."
