EDUCATION Minister Leighton Andrews has refused to detail his concerns over education spending in Swansea.

Following the revelation that the education minister had asked Swansea Council to explain its budget for education this year, which will see more than 100 teachers lose their jobs as part of a £5 million cutback for the service, the Post asked his office if the minister would say what his concerns were.

However, the response did not give any further details.

An Assembly Government spokesperson said: "Following receipt of a very high number of representations, the Education Minister has written to the authority to seek explanation of the decisions taken when arriving at the budget set for 2010-2011."

The spokesman did not reveal how many representations had been received, but added that Lib Dem-controlled Swansea Council was the only local authority the Labour Minister had written to on this issue.

In return, Swansea Council's cabinet member for education Mike Day accused Mr Andrews of "interfering".

Councillor Day said: "I find it strange that an Education Minister is interfering with the affairs of a local authority without going through the normal processes and channels, and I think it is inappropriate in seeking to gain some understanding from us as to the education budget when everyone knows that Welsh pupils are underfunded by £527 per pupil compared with English pupils.

"This is something that his own statistics demonstrate.

"Who he writes to is a matter for him only.

"Only he can comment on why he has written to us and no other authorities.

"I look forward to sending him a response to the questions that he has raised and I hope that he will make similar representations to other authorities if he is to demonstrate political neutrality."

The Post revealed yesterday that Mr Andrews had told regional AM Alun Cairns that he had written to Swansea Council.

In a reply to Mr Cairns, Mr Andrews said that he had requested an explanation of the budget.

In his letter, he also said: "I would not want Swansea to go further in this direction when setting education budgets for 2011/12 and beyond.

"I am mindful of their right as a local authority to decide how to manage education and other services, but if this situation persisted beyond the coming financial year or got worse I would be inclined to take a different and less accommoda- ting view."

alex.brown@swwmedia.co.uk