In February 2024, Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) Council made the controversial decision to cut back on home-to-school transport. As of September 2025, students in secondary schools and colleges who live just under three miles from their institution will be forced to find alternative transport.
In a move that exemplifies Labour’s heartless approach, they now expect our children to walk up to six miles each day, regardless of the weather. This isn’t just cruel; it’s becoming a hallmark of Labour’s tendency to target the most vulnerable in society – children and the elderly.
Labour’s budget last year cut £56 million in cash terms and £140 million in real terms from the education budget.
This year’s supplementary budget has resulted in a further £92 million cut in cash terms to the education budget.
The £93 million cuts include a £930,000 cut to Additional Learning Needs and £1.2 million from education infrastructure.
Responding to Labour’s supplementary budget which outlines plans for a further cut of £92 million to the education budget, Tom Giffard MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Education Minister, said:
“Schools are already struggling to make ends meet so Labour must be clear where this additional £92million cut is going. If there are savings to be made it should go to front line school provisions, as they have already had a £56million cut in cash terms.
“Labour are failing schools in Wales, where we have the lowest PISA results in the UK, a teacher recruitment crisis, soaring absenteeism and children leaving school functionally illiterate. They cannot correct this decline while cutting school provisions further.
“The Labour Government has been underfunding education for decades and would rather see 36 more politicians in Cardiff Bay than fix the mess they have made over the past 25 years.”
Peter Fox MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Finance, added:
“I am disappointed to see Labour’s cuts to education maintained, despite additional resource being available, hitting delivery on the frontline.
“At a time where public finances are especially tight, we need to ensure that taxpayer’s money is being used effectively and any savings found within major portfolios are reprioritised to fund frontline delivery, not redistributed away.”
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