Education clearly remains a top priority in Denbighshire as schools are given a 4.9% increase in their delegated budgets compared to 2010-11.
Figures released by the Welsh Government today, show Denbighshire has increased its delegation rate by 6.1% for the financial year 2011-2012. The delegation rate for this year is 79%, against the Wales average of 76% placing us 4th in the delegation league table. This is a significant increase from 2010-11 where we were ranked only 17th with a rate of 73%.
The total education budget despite showing a decrease of 2.67%, has seen the removal of one-off funding from 10-11 and also cleansing of centrally held budgets which is clearly demonstrating Denbighshire’s commitment to reducing central bureaucracy whilst diverting as much as possible to the frontline service.
The gross delegated spend per pupil now stands at £4,326 compared to a Wales average of £4,162, an average increase from 10-11 of £251 per pupil.
The gross centrally held spend per pupil stands at only £1,142 compared to a Wales average of £1,299, an average decrease from 11-12 of £366 per pupil.
Cabinet Lead Member for Education, Councillor Eryl Williams, said: “We are extremely proud of the efforts we are making to allocate as much funding as possible to schools with less being kept in the central budget. The large increase in delegation and the corresponding drop in the central budget is reflective of the hard work we have put in to put more and more funding at the heart of the frontline where it will benefit the education experience of our young people”.
“Our decision to increase delegation follows discussion with schools who told us this is what they wanted and we agreed to work with them to move forward with this approach.
“We will continue to remain committed to improving the education experience for our children and young people within Denbighshire.”
