The Labour-Plaid government has allowed the spending gap per pupil to rise to a record level of £604. Jenny Randerson AM,
Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Minister said:

“This is yet more evidence that the Labour-Plaid government is failing our children. The Welsh Liberal Democrats have warned for
years that the spending gap of £500 per pupil between England and Wales would have disastrous consequences. The impact of
having Plaid Cymru in the government with Labour is that the spending gap has grown to over £600.

“Yesterday, the Chief Inspector asked the Government to ‘face facts’. It is not too late for the Labour–Plaid government to support
Welsh Liberal Democrat proposals for a Pupil Premium that would target additional funding for education at the most disadvantaged
pupils in Wales from nursery to age 16.”

It should be added that Conservative proposals set out in their alternative budget for Wales would increase the funding gap even further.

Derek Davies, director of finance for Neath Port Talbot, has speculated that like is not being compared with like, and has called for an independent study of the differences. He suggests that transport costs distort the picture. It could also be that the overhead of PFI schemes, something we turned our back on in Wales under the Labour/LibDem coalition in 2000, also inflates the English figure. Personally, I feel that there would still be a wide discrepancy after you take these factors out, but it would be good to have it confirmed.

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