English: I would like to thank Lynne Neagle AM for her leadership as our chairman of the CYPE committee, the preparation of this report and also for introducing it here today. She has hit the nail on the head: there is simply not enough money going into the Welsh education system, and certainly not enough finding its way into our schools. Now, of course, since the publication of this report - [ Interruption.] I haven't even started. Sorry, I can't. Since the publication of this report and, thankfully, our Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, has announced that the Welsh Government will receive £1.24 billion extra spending directly for schools. This money will provide an opportunity for the education Minister to take decisive action to close, if not crush, this £645 per-pupil funding gap between England and Wales. Earlier this year, the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers' representative told us that it was the worst year for Welsh school budgets since 1995, and, sadly, things are only set to get worse because the Minister herself, actually, is in denial about this. The WLGA have projected that the school budget gap will rise further to £319 million in 2022-23, and the cuts this is causing are crippling. For example, the number of teachers has fallen by 1,500 between 2010 and 2018, despite there only being 29 fewer pupils. There needs to be sufficient funding of schools, so I am pleased that recommendation 1 has been accepted. I will be following the urgent review with much interest because I believe that we need to know, however, the timings on this and by when we can hope to have a base figure for running a school and educating a child here in Wales. Now, the report also gets to grips with monitoring the level of priority that local authorities give to schools within its distribution of funding and puts us on track to have a better understanding and tackling the known inconsistency with setting school budgets by 22 authorities. For example, the inequitable situation is exemplified when considering that the amount spent by authorities on schools can range from £5,107 to £6,456 per pupil. So, we are in a peculiar position where 501 schools held reserves above the statutory thresholds whilst 225 were in deficit as of March 2018. Shockingly, 70 per cent of Welsh secondary schools are currently in deficit. This is a priority problem. I wonder, therefore, why the response to the recommendation about deficits does not explain how you are working with local authorities to explore effective management. I welcome your continued commitment to challenge regional consortia about money reaching the front line. The National Education Union have told us that they have had problems with the consortia since they were first established. The evidence we have received shows a lack of understanding of the roles of local government and regional consortia. I cannot criticise the confusion as even you are still working on providing clarity. And, Minister, I do recall during my scrutiny of you during one of your ministerial presentations to us at committee, you said, 'Janet, even I cannot follow the money from the Government to the schools', so there is a concern that if you can't follow it, how are our headteachers and, indeed, our parents able to follow it? There is no bigger area calling out for clarity than spend on school improvement. In 2018-19, despite spending £11 million on purchasing school improvement services from consortia, local authorities also spent £10.9 million on school improvements. So, I strongly support the calls for an urgent comparison of both those spends. There is no room for duplication of work and financial frivolousness. The funding in the system must be made to work as effectively as possible as the school situation currently is unsustainable. For example, a headteacher in north Wales contacted me only yesterday to explain that teachers are leaving the profession and are not being replaced, teachers are reducing their hours due to budget pressures, and support staff are being hit by redundancies and reduced hours. So, I will be voting for the best interest of young people and our hardworking teachers, and I therefore support all the recommendations. However, I do believe that you, Minister, can go further through addressing the queries I have raised to help provide a boost to schools from here, the Welsh Labour Government, as our Prime Minister has done from the UK Government.
Welsh: Hoffwn ddiolch i Lynne Neagle AC am ei harweiniad fel cadeirydd ein Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg, am baratoi'r adroddiad hwn a hefyd am ei gyflwyno yma heddiw. Mae hi wedi taro'r hoelen ar ei phen: yn syml iawn, nid oes digon o arian yn mynd i mewn i system addysg Cymru, ac yn sicr nid oes digon yn cyrraedd ein hysgolion. Nawr, wrth gwrs, ers cyhoeddi'r adroddiad hwn - [ Torri ar draws. ] Nid wyf hyd yn oed wedi dechrau. Ni allaf, mae'n ddrwg gennyf. Ers cyhoeddi'r adroddiad hwn, a diolch byth, mae ein Prif Weinidog, y Gwir Anrhydeddus Boris Johnson AS, wedi cyhoeddi y bydd Llywodraeth Cymru yn derbyn £1.24 biliwn o wariant ychwanegol yn uniongyrchol ar gyfer ysgolion. Bydd yr arian yn rhoi cyfle i'r Gweinidog addysg roi camau pendant ar waith i gau, os nad dileu'r bwlch cyllido o £645 y disgybl rhwng Cymru a Lloegr. Yn gynharach eleni, dywedodd cynrychiolydd ar ran Cymdeithas Genedlaethol yr Ysgolfeistri ac Undeb yr Athrawesau wrthym mai hon oedd y flwyddyn waethaf ar gyllidebau ysgolion Cymru ers 1995, ac yn anffodus, mae pethau'n mynd i waethygu am fod y Gweinidog ei hun yn gwadu hyn mewn gwirionedd. Mae Cymdeithas Llywodraeth Leol Cymru wedi rhagweld y bydd y bwlch yng nghyllideb ysgolion yn codi ymhellach i £319 miliwn yn 2022-23, ac mae'r toriadau y mae hyn yn eu hachosi yn creu anawsterau mawr. Er enghraifft, mae nifer yr athrawon wedi gostwng 1,500 rhwng 2010 a 2018, er mai dim ond 29 yn llai o ddisgyblion a geir. Mae angen cyllid digonol ar ysgolion, felly rwy'n falch bod argymhelliad 1 wedi'i dderbyn. Byddaf yn dilyn yr adolygiad brys gyda diddordeb mawr gan fy mod yn credu bod angen inni wybod, fodd bynnag, beth yw'r amserlen ar hyn ac erbyn pa bryd y gallwn obeithio cael ffigur sylfaen ar gyfer rhedeg ysgol ac addysgu plentyn yma yng Nghymru. Nawr, mae'r adroddiad hefyd yn mynd i'r afael â monitro lefel y flaenoriaeth y mae awdurdodau lleol yn ei rhoi i ysgolion wrth iddynt ddosbarthu cyllid ac yn ein rhoi ar y trywydd iawn i gael gwell dealltwriaeth a mynd i'r afael â'r anghysondeb y gwyddom amdano wrth i'r 22 awdurdod lleol osod cyllidebau ysgolion. Er enghraifft, daw'r sefyllfa anghyfartal yn amlwg wrth ystyried y gall y swm a werir gan awdurdodau ar ysgolion amrywio o £5,107 i £6,456 y disgybl. Felly, rydym mewn sefyllfa ryfedd lle roedd 501 o ysgolion yn cadw cronfeydd wrth gefn sydd uwchlaw'r trothwyon statudol tra bod 225 ohonynt mewn diffyg ym mis Mawrth 2018. Yn frawychus, mae 70 y cant o ysgolion uwchradd Cymru mewn diffyg ar hyn o bryd. Mae hon yn broblem sy'n ymwneud â blaenoriaeth. Tybed felly pam nad yw'r ymateb i'r argymhelliad ynghylch diffygion yn egluro sut rydych chi'n gweithio gydag awdurdodau lleol i archwilio rheolaeth effeithiol. Rwy'n croesawu eich ymrwymiad parhaus i herio consortia rhanbarthol ynghylch arian yn cyrraedd y rheng flaen. Mae'r Undeb Addysg Cenedlaethol wedi dweud wrthym eu bod wedi cael problemau gyda'r consortia ers iddynt gael eu sefydlu. Mae'r dystiolaeth a gawsom yn dangos diffyg dealltwriaeth o rolau llywodraeth leol a chonsortia rhanbarthol. Ni allaf feirniadu'r dryswch gan eich bod chi hyd yn oed yn dal i weithio ar ddarparu eglurder. Ac rwy'n cofio, Weinidog, yn ystod fy ngwaith craffu arnoch yn ystod un o'ch cyflwyniadau gweinidogol i ni yn y pwyllgor, eich bod wedi dweud, 'Janet, ni allaf fi hyd yn oed ddilyn yr arian o'r Llywodraeth i'r ysgolion', felly mae'n ofid, os na allwch chi ei ddilyn, sut y gall ein penaethiaid a'n rhieni ei ddilyn? Nid oes unrhyw faes yn galw am fwy o eglurder na'r gwariant ar wella ysgolion. Yn 2018-19, er bod £11 miliwn wedi'i wario ar brynu gwasanaethau gwella ysgolion gan gonsortia, gwariodd awdurdodau lleol £10.9 miliwn yn ogystal ar welliannau i ysgolion. Felly, rwy'n cefnogi'n gryf y galwadau am gymharu'r ddau wariant ar frys. Nid oes lle i ddyblygu gwaith ac ysgafalwch ariannol. Rhaid gwneud i'r cyllid yn y system weithio mor effeithiol â phosibl gan fod sefyllfa'r ysgolion yn anghynaladwy ar hyn o bryd. Er enghraifft, cysylltodd pennaeth yng ngogledd Cymru â mi ddoe i egluro bod athrawon yn gadael y proffesiwn ac nad oes neb yn dod yn eu lle, mae athrawon yn lleihau eu horiau oherwydd pwysau cyllidebol, ac mae staff cymorth yn cael eu taro gan ddiswyddiadau a llai o oriau. Byddaf yn pleidleisio er budd gorau pobl ifanc a'n hathrawon gweithgar, ac felly rwy'n cefnogi'r holl argymhellion. Fodd bynnag, credaf y gallwch chi, Weinidog, fynd ymhellach trwy fynd i'r afael â'r cwestiynau a ofynnais i helpu i roi hwb i ysgolion o'r fan hon, Llywodraeth Lafur Cymru, fel y mae ein Prif Weinidog wedi'i wneud o Lywodraeth y DU.