£60 million additional learning needs funding as pressure mounts on Welsh schools
The Senedd will debate a revised Welsh Government budget on Tuesday (3 November), with an additional £60 million for children and young people with Additional Learning Needs at the centre of a political agreement that could release hundreds of millions of pounds for public services across Wales.
The debate follows months of disagreement over the Welsh Government’s spending priorities and growing concerns about the financial pressures facing schools, colleges and local authorities.
The additional funding was secured following negotiations between Plaid Cymru’s Welsh Government and the Welsh Labour group in the Senedd, after an earlier supplementary budget was rejected in July.
Although the £60 million agreement has cleared a significant political obstacle, Tuesday’s debate will provide an opportunity for Members of the Senedd to examine whether the extra money is sufficient to address the difficulties facing Wales’s Additional Learning Needs (ALN) system.
Why was the original budget rejected?
The Welsh Government originally published its First Supplementary Budget for 2026–27 on 23 June.
It proposed allocating additional resources to the NHS, childcare, school meals, housing, transport and other public services.
Much of the available funding resulted from changes in UK Government spending, including £322 million in Barnett consequentials associated with the UK Spring Statement.
However, the proposals attracted criticism over the absence of a sufficiently substantial allocation for Additional Learning Needs.
The Welsh Local Government Association had already identified ALN provision as a significant source of financial pressure on schools and councils.
Ahead of the July vote, the Welsh Government offered an additional £40 million annually for three years. Welsh Labour considered that offer insufficient.
The Senedd rejected the supplementary budget on 14 July, leaving ministers needing to return with revised proposals.
Following further negotiations, the two parties announced an agreement on 13 October to allocate an additional £60 million for ALN in the current financial year.
Where will the £60 million go?
The additional investment is intended to address immediate pressures while supporting longer-term reform of the ALN system.
The allocation is divided into three main areas:
| Allocation | Funding |
|---|---|
| Direct support for schools through the Local Authority Education Grant | £44.8 million |
| Local authorities’ ALN provision and support services | £11.2 million |
| Development of a long-term sustainability plan | £1.5 million |
| Further education provision through Medr | £2.5 million |
| Total | £60 million |
The largest share, £56 million, will be distributed through the Education Reform element of the Local Authority Education Grant, with 80% directed to schools and 20% to local authorities.
The £2.5 million allocation to Medr, Wales’s Commission for Tertiary Education and Research, recognises that support for learners with additional needs extends beyond compulsory education.
Why is the ALN system under pressure?
Wales has been implementing a major reform of how children and young people with additional learning needs are identified and supported.
The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 introduced a new statutory framework intended to provide more consistent, person-centred support for learners from birth to the age of 25.
The reforms replaced the previous special educational needs arrangements with a system centred on Individual Development Plans, which identify a learner’s needs and the additional learning provision required.
However, implementing the system has placed substantial demands on schools, councils and specialist services.
Schools must identify needs, prepare and maintain plans, coordinate support and ensure that appropriate provision is available.
In some cases, children require specialist teaching, classroom assistance, therapeutic services or placements outside mainstream schools.
These services can be expensive, particularly where specialist staff are difficult to recruit or demand exceeds available capacity.
Audit Wales has previously warned that the ALN system is under strain, while local authorities have raised concerns about the sustainability of funding.
The challenge is not simply the cost of administering the new system. It is whether sufficient resources and specialist provision are available to meet the legal entitlements of children and young people.
What else is included in the supplementary budget?
The £60 million ALN allocation is an addition to a wider spending package originally presented in June.
That package includes:
- £145 million for NHS Wales, including £100 million to address waiting lists, £25 million for surgical and diagnostic hubs and £20 million for maintenance.
- £55 million for childcare, including expansion of provision for two-year-olds and support for existing childcare commitments.
- £15 million for secondary school meals, including kitchen and dining facilities.
- £40 million for education estate maintenance, addressing repairs and improvements to school buildings.
- £20 million for social housing through capital investment.
- £8 million for the £1 bus fare pilot for young people.
- £2 million for the proposed Cynnal child payment pilot, aimed at supporting families experiencing poverty.
The supplementary budget also incorporates technical changes, departmental transfers and adjustments reflecting UK Government fiscal decisions.
These allocations are part of the revised spending proposals being brought before the Senedd, rather than new announcements made specifically for Tuesday’s debate.
Is £60 million enough?
The Welsh Government says the investment should ease immediate financial and operational pressures on schools, colleges, councils and support services.
Welsh Labour has welcomed the agreement as an important first step, while emphasising that the funding must translate into improvements for children and young people.
However, the additional allocation is confined to the current financial year.
That creates uncertainty about how schools and local authorities will meet continuing costs in future years.
Recruiting specialist staff, developing suitable provision and meeting statutory responsibilities often require commitments extending well beyond a single financial year.
Wales Fiscal Analysis has characterised the agreement as a short-term response rather than a lasting financial settlement.
The Welsh Government has acknowledged the need for a more sustainable system and says future ALN funding will be considered as part of its 2027–28 Draft Budget.
What happens on Tuesday?
Members of the Senedd will debate the Second Supplementary Budget on 3 November.
The debate will test the level of parliamentary support for the revised allocations and give Members an opportunity to question ministers about how the additional ALN funding will be distributed and monitored.
For schools and families, several questions remain particularly important.
Will the money reach schools quickly enough to make a difference during the current academic year? How will allocations reflect the differing needs of pupils and the costs faced by individual authorities? Will additional funding improve access to specialist support, or primarily help cover existing budget pressures?
There is also the longer-term question of whether Wales can establish a funding system that keeps pace with demand while ensuring that children receive the support to which they are legally entitled.
The next budget will be the longer-term test
Even if Tuesday’s supplementary budget is approved, the debate over the future of Additional Learning Needs funding will continue.
The Welsh Government is due to publish its Draft Budget for 2027–28 on 17 November.
That will provide a clearer indication of whether the additional £60 million represents the beginning of a sustained increase in support or a temporary response to immediate financial pressures.
For the thousands of children and young people who depend on ALN provision, the issue is ultimately about more than the amount allocated in a budget.
It is about whether schools, colleges and local authorities have the staff, specialist services and financial certainty needed to provide appropriate education and support.
Tuesday’s debate will determine the Senedd’s response to the immediate funding package. The longer-term question is whether Wales can make its Additional Learning Needs system financially sustainable while delivering on the rights and expectations established by its education reforms.
