“A local authority much have regard to the desirability of such a formula being simple, objective, measurable, predictable in effect and clearly expressed” (The School Funding (Wales) Regulations 2010, Section 10 paragraph 2)
Did the authority provide a written explanation of the Blaenau Gwent funding formula? Yes. Blaenau Gwent included the Section 52 statement relating to the funding formula, which gives a clear outline of the various factors involved. However there is no analysis or explanation of the rationale behind the formula.
Is the formula measurable? Is it predictable? Not without additional information related to the school population - e.g. numbers of children in each year group, in each school.
“The regulations require that 70 per cent of the funding must be distributed on the basis of pupil numbers. (School Funding in Wales Research Briefing August 2018)
Is 70% of school funding based on pupil numbers? The 2019-20 Section 52 statement from Blaenau Gwent shows that the authority is limiting the amount allocated to schools based on other factors to c.30% (see below). Also in the Table 2 of the Section 52, Blaenau Gwent outlines the per pupil allocation with age-weighting—the formula is therefore compliant by providing “the same funding for pupils of the same age irrespective of the nature of the school which they attend” (The School Funding (Wales) Regulations 2010, Section 23 paragraph 1b).
Reference: Data Sources for Blaenau Gwent