ACROSS Pembrokeshire, almost 1,900 pupils have additional learning needs. Welsh Labour is calling on the Plaid Cymru Government for urgent investment in support for children and young people with additional learning needs in their first supplementary budget.

Additional funding into Special Educational Needs and Disability in England from the UK Labour Government has meant £340 million is available in consequentials to Wales. Welsh Labour, alongside all 22 Local Authorities and teaching unions, have called on the Welsh Government to use the additional money to fund support for additional learning needs in schools in Wales. But Plaid Cymru’s first supplementary budget fails to provide a single penny.

In the spring, the non-partisan Welsh Local Government Association reported that education was “one of the most acute pressures highlighted by councils” as “ALN spending accounts for more than a quarter of all school budget pressures”.

Welsh Labour education spokesperson Lynne Neagle MS said:

“Every pupil deserves the best possible support and care to reach their full potential and be happy at school. School staff, parents and carers work incredibly hard for young people with additional learning needs, often under extraordinary pressures.

“It is astounding that the Plaid Cymru Government are not giving any extra support to these children. Our additional learning needs system is under extreme pressure. Children and young people’s needs require more complex, intensive and long-term support. The pressures they face in England exist here in Wales too, and school reserves don’t have sufficient headroom to absorb ongoing cost increases.

“We have asked them to justify their decision and asked why there is no money in their budget for this.

“Schools and families deserve transparency. I stand with my Welsh Labour colleagues, council leaders and teaching unions urging Plaid Cymru to do the right thing and allocate this money to children with additional learning needs.”