Ceredigion’s schools are under an “inordinate amount of pressure” to make savings, leading some to ask if an increase in council tax could be used to support them.

The learning communities overview and scrutiny committee were told of a recommendation by co-ordinating scrutiny members that if council tax be raised by seven per cent that the extra two per cent be allocated to education.

This, the meeting heard on Wednesday, 30 January, would cover the £644,000 “shortfall” that schools have to find in the 2019/20 budget and provide a “clean sheet” for schools.

More than £2m needs to be found in the schools £46.5m budget for the next financial year, which includes teacher pay and pension pressures.

A Welsh Government settlement of £175,000 will fund 55 per cent of the pay award but no funding for pension rises has yet been indicated.

The schools service will also receive £482,000 as its share of the one per cent funding allocated by the council to all services, and an additional £445,000 “corporate allocation” to schools.

It was called a “budget for schools” by head of finance Stephen Johnson.

Demographic changes and the impact of Universal Credit on free school meals have also been taken into account.

Cllr Paul Hinge said that there were some schools not managing their budgets and in deficit.

He was told by Meinir Ebbsworth, corporate lead officer for schools, that there was a “small group of schools that have significant budgetary challenges” but work was continuing to tackle that.

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