Welsh Government Cost of the School Day subsidy scheme

If you are using this scheme to provide awards of subsidy, you must inform the Subsidy Control Unit – email: scu@gov.wales

Six local authority areas of Wales in the pilot phase.

Welsh Government Cost of the School Day Subsidy Scheme

This award of Funding is made on and subject to the Conditions and under the authority of the Cabinet Secretary for Education, one of the Welsh Ministers, acting pursuant to functions transferred under section 58A of the Government of Wales Act 2006.

The subsidy aims to equip schools and educators with detailed information about the lived experience of poverty and the impact of poverty on education in their school community.

The subsidy will support the initial pilot of large-scale ‘poverty proofing’ work in clusters of linked schools, also known as ‘learning communities’. This supports the stated aims of Welsh Government education policy and directly supports the Child Poverty Strategy 2024.

The subsidy will support work to make education a cost neutral experience and to remove barriers to attendance and attainment caused by poverty. The subsidy will generate large amounts of usable data about the impact of poverty on pupils from a range of settings across Wales which will be available to schools, clusters, LAs and Welsh Government and can then be used to inform future activities and work.

Additional data will be sought to evaluate the impact of the project and assess its scalability for wider/nationwide delivery. The intention for this pilot is to address the equity rationale of engaging as early as possible in the lives of children living in poverty in order to maximise their potential health, wellbeing and economic outcomes, given Wales is currently one of the poorest regions in the UK based on GDP per capita.

Welsh Government

Enterprises eligible to receive support are third sector partners with experience in the child poverty sector and with appropriate methodologies to engage directly with communities and learners with sensitivity and expertise.

Eligibility requires a track record of successfully addressing some of the key priority areas outlined in the Child Poverty Strategy and the ability to operate in Wales in order to take positive action to address the continuing impact of poverty on children’s participation/attendance and attainment in education.

Education

22 July 2024 to 22 July 2029.

£3,000,000 estimate only.

All subsidy awarded under the scheme will be awarded by way of grants.

Eligibility requires a track record of successfully addressing some of the key priority areas outlined in the Child Poverty Strategy and the ability to operate in Wales in order to take positive action to address the continuing impact of poverty on children’s participation/attendance and attainment in education.

A subsidy is calculated on the basis of a detailed indicative budget for a pilot project. Specific deliverables will be detailed and agreed through grant award, with clear timescales set out. Conditions for organisations receiving subsidy will include:

• regular contact with Welsh Government throughout the subsidy period through face-to-face and online engagement, including, as relevant, regular project steering groups attended by Welsh Government
• participation in monitoring and evaluation, including, as appropriate, sharing data with Welsh Government
• written reporting of activity to Welsh Government throughout the subsidy period.

A payment schedule will be established on the basis of the delivery of specific outputs.

£150,000.