SCHOOL leaders in Wales could consider industrial action after the Welsh Government rejected an independent recommendation for teachers and headteachers to receive a 4.25% pay rise.

NAHT Cymru condemned the decision as “fundamentally wrong-headed” after Education Minister Anna Brychan announced that ministers would instead consult on a 3.5% increase from September 2026.

The union said it would now consult its members over its next steps and would take “whatever action is appropriate” to defend school leaders, teachers and pupils.

Unqualified teachers would receive a larger 5% increase under the Welsh Government’s proposals.

Additional funding has been promised to councils and schools to support the award, although the government has not yet published details of how much money will be provided or whether it will cover the full cost.

The Independent Welsh Pay Review Body had recommended that all teachers’ salaries and allowances rise by 4.25%.

However, Ms Brychan said the recommendation was not affordable within existing budgets and that the government had been forced to balance financial constraints against the need to recognise and reward the education workforce.

NAHT Cymru said the rejection raised fundamental questions about the purpose and credibility of the independent review process.

Rob Kelsall, the union’s assistant general secretary, said: “The Welsh Government’s decision to depart from the recommendation of the Independent Welsh Pay Review Body is deeply disappointing and fundamentally wrong-headed.

“The review body was established to provide independent, expert advice based on the evidence presented to it about recruitment, retention, workload and the wider challenges facing the education workforce.

“If ministers are prepared to disregard that advice when it becomes inconvenient, then it is entirely reasonable to ask what the purpose of the process is.”

Mr Kelsall said ministers could not claim to value independent scrutiny while ignoring the conclusions of the body established to advise them.

He added: “Doing so undermines confidence in the integrity of the system and risks reducing the entire process to little more than a political exercise.”

The union said teachers and school leaders had submitted evidence to the review body in the expectation that its conclusions would carry genuine weight.

It argued that the Welsh Government should provide a detailed explanation if it believed the independent recommendation was incorrect.

Mr Kelsall said: “Simply setting aside its recommendation damages trust and raises serious questions about the credibility of future pay reviews.

“At a time when schools are facing significant recruitment and retention difficulties, this is precisely the wrong signal to send to the profession.”

‘Perfect storm’ facing Welsh schools

NAHT Cymru also warned that the pay dispute came as schools faced growing pressure from staff shortages, rising workloads and what it described as a crisis in additional learning needs provision.

The union said demand for ALN support was increasing, while the needs of children entering the system were becoming more complex.

It claimed years of underfunding had left schools struggling to provide adequate support for some of Wales’s most vulnerable pupils.

Mr Kelsall said: “The reality facing schools is that we are experiencing a perfect storm.

“Demand for ALN support continues to grow, the complexity of need is increasing, schools are facing workforce pressures, and years of chronic underfunding have left provision stretched to breaking point.”

He said teachers and school leaders remained committed to supporting every child, but warned that goodwill could not compensate for insufficient funding.

NAHT Cymru has called for at least £100m in additional investment to begin addressing pressures within the ALN system.

It also expressed concern about proposals to divide additional funding equally between councils and schools, arguing that money intended for frontline provision did not always reach the pupils it was meant to support.

Mr Kelsall said any additional investment should be transparent, accountable and directed towards the areas of greatest need.

He said: “Schools are best placed to identify need and provide support quickly and effectively.”

Union to consult members

Paul Whiteman, NAHT’s general secretary, accused the Welsh Government of treating education as a peripheral concern.

He said: “Consistently diverting funds earmarked for education away from schools and now deliberately underpaying the very professionals that equip and inspire the next generation for the challenges of the future is a reckless recipe for disaster.

“We will now consult members on next actions and the NAHT will do whatever is appropriate to defend the education of young people and the rights of those that deliver it.”

The union has not yet said what form any action could take.

The Welsh Government’s proposal remains subject to consultation, which is expected to begin when schools return in September.

Ministers have also announced plans to consult on a single pay scale for classroom teachers, which would allow annual progression, and changes intended to protect the weekends and holiday periods of school leaders.

Funding will also be offered to support a doubling of the period during which teachers receive full maternity pay, provided councils and unions agree to amend employment contracts.

Ms Brychan said: “I am mindful of the difficult financial circumstances affecting schools and colleges and the implications that unfunded pay awards would have on budgets and staff numbers.

“In coming to my decision, I have had to balance the available budget with the need to recognise and reward our workforce.”

A CALL for an impartial investigation into the contentious closure of Manorbier school, along with an apology from a senior councillor in connection with that closure, are to be heard next week.

Back in June, the final decision to close fire-ravaged Manorbier school was given the go-ahead, despite a heartfelt last-minute plea by local councillor Phil Kidney to keep it open.

Manorbier Church in Wales VC School and its adjoining schoolhouse was severely damaged by a fire in October 2022, which broke out in the school roof space.

After that, a ‘school from school’ was set up in Jameston Village Hall.

It had been hoped the school would be rebuilt, but last year councillors backed a report of the School Modernisation Working Group which, amongst other recommendations, included a statutory consultation on proposals to discontinue Manorbier Church in Wales Voluntary Controlled School.

The decision attracted strong local opposition, with more than 1,500 people signing a petition on the council’s own website calling for the school to be rebuilt.

The formal consultation for the discontinuation of Manorbier closed last December.

However, many of the council’s figures, especially on the level of surplus places at the school, were disputed.

At a special extraordinary council meeting held on June 15, members were asked to consider a report on a summary of 62 objections received in respect of the proposal to discontinue Manorbier VC school, which included options to end that discontinuation or to launch a fresh consultation.

However, it was recommended, in a report presented by deputy leader Cllr Paul Miller, who now also has responsibility for education, for the discontinuation be proceeded with.

At the meeting, local councillor Phil Kidney, who has been a staunch supporter of the keeping the school open, thanked the campaigners and staff.

“We’ve all let these people down, the way this council has handled this situation is appalling; from day one not one of the executives came up to see these children, no-one came out; if that was Haverfordwest or Tenby they’d be all over the place.”

He said the wording of the consultation had seen more mentions of St Florence [ the alternative school for pupils in the event of a discontinuation] than Manorbier, describing it as “like a brochure for St Florence”.

He also warned the Diocese of St Davids, which had always pressed for the school to be rebuilt, would not allow the council to “walk away from our liabilities lightly”.

Members later heard the diocese had, in a letter received by councillors, made “damning accusations the council is being biased against voluntary controlled schools,” with Cllr Jamie Adams saying the council administration should be “ashamed of this debacle”.

Cllr Miller said his only consideration was “the future welfare of the children,” adding: “I do not think 20 children educated in a welfare centre in Jameston is the best for them.”

Members, by 30 votes to 23, with four abstentions, supported the final steps to close the school.

Following that decision, issues around the contentious closure will be heard at the forthcoming meeting of the council, taking place on July 16.

In a notice of motion before councillors, Cllr Kidney proposes: “That council considers a full impartial investigation into the process of closing Manorbier school, specifically the time it has taken, broken promises, inadequate insurance, and the involvement of HR department.”

A supporting statement for his motion says: “The review should be carried out by someone not employed by the authority, with powers to recommend disciplinary action if they deem necessary.

“A full impartial review should hopefully stop another school being treated so appallingly.”

Cllr Kidney is also, in a submitted question, seeking an apology from the deputy leader, who now has responsibility for education: “Would the Cabinet Member for Education like to apologise to the staff and parents of Manorbier School for his comments at the last council meeting, where he stated children would get a better education in St Florence and children in Manorbier were being taught in one room?

“This is both factually wrong and insulting to staff, who have worked tirelessly to provide teaching of an excellent standard, and if he had taken the time to read the last Estyn report, he may not have made these derogatory comments.”

Both the motion and question will be heard by councillors next week.

WELSH Government funding choices are forcing headteachers to make “difficult decisions” about the support they can provide to vulnerable pupils, opposition leaders have warned.

During First Minister’s Questions on Tuesday July 7, interim Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates called on Plaid Cymru’s First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth to avoid “abdicating responsibility for the most vulnerable children in Wales”.

Recent extra funding for additional learning needs (ALN) in England mean £340 million is available to Wales in consequential funding.

This is not ring-fenced – meaning the Welsh Government can use the extra cash as it sees fit.

Mr Skates noted Plaid Cymru’s 2024 acknowledgment that schools are forced to make difficult decisions about the support they can provide – quoting Mr ap Iorwerth as saying: “Wales can do better than this. Under Plaid Cymru, the pupils who need support will receive it.”

Mr Skates therefore called on the First Minister to reveal why not “a single extra penny” was allocated towards ALN in the supplementary budget, which was announced last month.

Describing creating a “sustainable” ALN framework as a “priority” for his government, Mr ap Iorwerth told the Labour leader that he is as “keen” as he is to work on ALN.

However, the First Minister also acknowledged the “tight constraints” within which his government must work, noting the “hundreds of millions of pounds of overspend” that his government “inherited from the last”.

Mr Skates called for the First Minister to avoid “abdicating responsibility for the most vulnerable children in Wales”.

In response, the First Minister said: “The problems that we face in ALN have been caused by 27 years of Labour education ministers. We want to work with this current group and anybody else to make sure that we build up sustainability for the future.

“The plans that we have in the supplementary budget stick with the previous government’s spending plans, whilst making allocations in areas I know the member’s party supports.

“I hope we can make positive progress on this, because we owe it to the people who are quite right in pointing out that we have a depth of problem in ALN in Wales and in England that deserves to be resolved. But it’s not going to be resolved by a one-off payment.”

It is not the first time the First Minister has faced questions over additional ALN funding, with the Welsh Conservatives and Reform UK raising the issue in previous sessions of First Minister’s Questions.

Mr Skates’ call for extra funding has echoed that of Caerphilly Council leader Jamie Pritchard and the local authority’s Labour group.

Cllr Pritchard said: “The Labour group on Caerphilly Council are calling on the Welsh Government to allocate consequential funding from the UK Labour Government to support children and young people with additional learning needs in Wales.

“There can be no raid on much needed additional learning needs provision.”

More than 3,500 school pupils across Caerphilly County Borough have ALN.

The council’s Labour group has said its “preparing in advance” for a Welsh Government U-turn.

Cllr Carol Andrews, Caerphilly Council’s cabinet member for education, said: “All of our schools have experienced increasing pressures in supporting learners with ALN. We feel that this funding consequential has to come to schools to the direct benefit of pupils with ALN.

“In addition to the specialist resource bases already approved by cabinet, we continue to experience significant growth in demand for ALN support. Should Welsh Government make additional this funding available, we already have plans of what will be done.”

Cllr Pritchard added: “I think the Welsh Government will be forced to U-Turn, and a U-Turn is no bad thing when it is the right thing to do.

“Our job as leaders of the 22 local authorities, is to ensure the voice of those local authorities are represented to Welsh Government. We are absolutely united in calling for the consequential funding to go straight to support our most vulnerable learners”.

The Welsh Local Government Association, which represents Wales’ 22 councils, has also expressed concern that funding for ALN support is not keeping up with the demand.

It says ALN costs are rising sharply, accounting for more than a quarter of all school budget pressures.

Councils say the growing complexity of need, alongside learner transport and workforce costs, is creating unsustainable financial strain.

According to a report by ITV Wales, the Welsh Government are in talks with Labour over ALN funding as it seeks support to pass its supplementary budget.

The Senedd is set to debate and vote on the budget on Tuesday July 14.