DENBIGHSHIRE Council’s leader has been criticised for backing an eleventh-hour amendment to his budget, proposed by the opposition, to move £500K of money earmarked for reserves to instead support attendance at schools.
At a council meeting last week, Denbighshire Council agreed the council’s budget for 2025/26 and to increase council tax by 6% after a vote at the authority’s Ruthin County Hall HQ.
During the budget discussions, an unscheduled £500,000 was pledged to schools and will now be used to help tackle learners’ wellbeing, attendance issues, behaviour problems, and poverty.
But the sum of money wasn’t included in the original budget report and was instead an unscheduled proposal put forward at Thursday’s final budget meeting by independent councillor Mark Young.
The independent councillor’s eleventh-hour amendment was agreed after it was seconded by Labour leader Cllr Jason McLellan. But speaking this week, independent leader Cllr Huw Hilditch-Roberts has criticised Cllr McLellan, questioning why £500K was taken from reserves so late in the process after months of work by the cabinet and finance officers.
“I’ve never known a leader second an amendment from a member of an opposition party on their own budget,” said Cllr Hilditch-Roberts.
“I think the amendment was right and was needed because obviously schools had a 3% cut last year, and they are in need.
“The money is very much needed in schools, and it will be needed in the deprived areas more than the other areas because attendance and certain Denbighshire schools are struggling; however, it was surprising to see the leader seconding the amendment when it was the leader’s own budget being tabled before full council.”
He added: “If he wanted it, why didn’t he include it? I’ve never seen it.
“You go there with your budget and defend it. I was quite surprised money was taken out of the reserves at the last hour and it wasn’t found from resources in the council because it is much needed.”
Last week Denbighshire Council’s head of finance described headteachers facing a “perfect storm”, blaming the under financing of schools on the Welsh Government.
A freedom of information request also revealed over 1,700 days were lost to Denbighshire teachers suffering from “stress, depression, anxiety and mental health fatigue”.
But Denbighshire will not cut school finances in the next financial year due to the authority receiving an unexpected, additional £14.4m in its local government settlement from Welsh Government.
Cllr Jason McLellan was approached for comment.
