Further to my earlier post, Budget time again..and £18m axed from schools, a few words about this morning's ten minute Executive Board meeting which saw the council's budget rubber stamped for public consultation. The process starts later this week.
Given that nearly half of the proposed £40m savings over the next three years are to come from education I expected this to be given a mention. I expected a comment, or note of concern from the Executive Board member for education, Plaid Cllr Gareth Jones that slicing a whopping £18.26m from schools, around 16% of their budget, would lead to even more teaching redundancies and without a doubt have an adverse affect on our children, let alone the risks of putting all your efficiency eggs in one basket, well half of them. There was not a mention.
The financial strain will be doubly compounded should the chief executive, following his insinuations at the last meeting, have his wish that schools should fund their own redundancy costs as well.
Back in July the Welsh Government claimed it was protecting the national education budget and was committed to 'sheltering schools from the worst of the cuts'. It looks like Carmarthenshire council have decided the exact opposite and schools will, in fact, bear the full brunt.
With the leader, Cllr Dole, away doing something important in Brussels it was left to Plaid's Dai Jenkins to present the budget report, a far cry from the anti-austerity promises from their pre-June opposition, they have certainly grasped the poisoned chalice; firmly following the traditions of their predecessors. With that in mind, it will be interesting to see how the Labour opposition shapes up over the next few months, if at all, but I noticed that none of them were there today, fielding a 'Councillor Question' or two.
Given that nearly half of the proposed £40m savings over the next three years are to come from education I expected this to be given a mention. I expected a comment, or note of concern from the Executive Board member for education, Plaid Cllr Gareth Jones that slicing a whopping £18.26m from schools, around 16% of their budget, would lead to even more teaching redundancies and without a doubt have an adverse affect on our children, let alone the risks of putting all your efficiency eggs in one basket, well half of them. There was not a mention.
The financial strain will be doubly compounded should the chief executive, following his insinuations at the last meeting, have his wish that schools should fund their own redundancy costs as well.
Back in July the Welsh Government claimed it was protecting the national education budget and was committed to 'sheltering schools from the worst of the cuts'. It looks like Carmarthenshire council have decided the exact opposite and schools will, in fact, bear the full brunt.
With the leader, Cllr Dole, away doing something important in Brussels it was left to Plaid's Dai Jenkins to present the budget report, a far cry from the anti-austerity promises from their pre-June opposition, they have certainly grasped the poisoned chalice; firmly following the traditions of their predecessors. With that in mind, it will be interesting to see how the Labour opposition shapes up over the next few months, if at all, but I noticed that none of them were there today, fielding a 'Councillor Question' or two.