More than 11,400 people have backed demands for UK Government funding for special educational needs to be ringfenced for schools across Wales.

The petition, submitted by Laura Tams, a casework support officer with headteachers' union National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) Cymru, sparked a Senedd debate after warning that systemic pressures on Additional Learning Needs (ALN) provision do not stop at the border.

As a result of additional funding for ALN in England, Wales will get an extra £550 million over three years - including £322m in this financial year.

Under the terms of the Barnett Formula there is no requirement for the Welsh Government to spend the extra cash in the same way it is spent in England.

While the NAHT Cymru petition recognised this, it called for the full £550m to be spent on ALN in Wales.

The Welsh Government's supplementary budget, passed this week, agreed to spend an additional £60m on ALN this financial year.

Speaking on 4 November, petitions committee chair Jason O’Connell, said it recognised the concern around ALN provision and funding in Wales, but that ringfencing consequential funding would risk undermining devolution by restricting Welsh Government spending decisions.

Mr O’Connell called on the education minister to explain the government's position on ALN funding and allocation.

Reform’s Welsh Leader, Helen Jenner, described the “refusal” to allocate the finding to ALN as a “political choice” and took aim at the Welsh Government for its international spending.

She said: “This government can find money for overseas projects and spending priorities elsewhere, yet when it comes to properly funding our schools and local authorities, suddenly we are told that there are difficult choices to be made.”

Labour’s Lynne Neagle told members the £60 million agreed for ALN this year was a “significant cash injection” which would make a “real difference”.