EXTRA cash to help sixth forms in North Wales is ‘considerably less’ than funding for councils in the south, Clwyd West AM Darren Millar said yesterday.
The Tory AM obtained a break down of where additional post-16 education funding will be spent.
The funds followed pressure on the Assembly Government over cuts announced earlier in the year.
But Mr Millar claimed that the extra for all sixth forms in the north was less than the amount given to some individual councils in the south.
“It is a disgrace that students in Wales should lose out on extra funds purely because of where they live,” Mr Millar said.
There were zero increases for the councils of Ynys Môn, Flintshire, and Wrexham, while Denbighshire receives £120,000, he said.
Newport, Pembrokeshire, and Powys receive above £300,000 each, while Rhondda Cynon Taf gets £595,000.
But an Assembly Government spokesperson insisted that no further education institution or council in North Wales had its funding cut this year.
“Seven FEIs along with local authorities in North Wales will receive an additional £1,065,974 on top of their original allocations to help maintain service levels at a time of economic downturn.
“Any suggestion that North Wales is being 'short changed' is wholly inaccurate.
“The latest funding allocations have focused on FEI's and local authorities that have seen a cash decrease in their allocation since 2008.”
Colleges and councils which benefited from an increase in funding since 2008 were not affected by the recent announcement.
