Councillors pledge to avoid £16 million school funding black hole in Powys

SENIOR councillors have vowed that they will not allow a school funding black hole of just under £16 million to materialise in Powys in three years’ time.
Members of Powys County Council’s  Liberal Democrat/Labour Cabinet received a report on school budget plans for the coming year at their meeting on Tuesday, July 30.
School governing bodies had been given a May 1 deadline to submit their proposal to the council – which also includes projections for the next three years.
The report shows that schools are predicted to have a deficit of £2.362 million by the end of March 2025, which will balloon up to a potential £15.784 million deficit by March 2027.
The total delegated schools budget rose this year £87.4 million- out of a total council budget of £340.7 million for this year.
But with bleak funding outlook for local government, schools might not receive any further funding for years to come.
Chairman of the Learning and Skills scrutiny committee Conservative Cllr Gwynfor Thomas said: “The staggering thing when you open the report pack is the amount of red which stands out in front of you and the projections.
“The (financial) work with schools that has been going on, appears to have run its course and left schools in a position where they have nowhere to turn except to reduce curriculum and staffing levels.
“That’s the harsh reality.”
To accentuate the seriousness of the situation he read out parts of a letter form Graham Taylor, the chairman of the school’s budget forum.
In the letter Mr Taylor points out that financial rules expect that the: “collective school balances should always be in surplus.”
Cllr Thomas said: “We are now for the first time in an unprecedented position of being in an overall deficit at the end of this year.”
Education portfolio holder, Liberal Democrat Cllr Pete Roberts expected schools budget positions to be “clearer” in the autumn.
This is because there needs to be time to gauge the consequences of the announcements by the UK Government Chancellor Rachel Reeves and how this effects the Welsh Government and in turn Powys.
The “uncertainty” around the energy costs to run schools would also be clarified by then.
Cllr Roberts said: “We chose to set the schools a flat cash figure and to work with that budget.
“If additional revenue comes in, they can take that improved situation and make changes.”
He believed that this was better than giving schools an “overly optimistic” position that could worsen and lead to “panicked changes.”
Cllr Roberts said: “It looks stark but hopefully this is the worst case scenario, it gives schools a prudent basis on which to work on.”
As the council itself progresses towards considering next year’s budget, Cllr Roberts believed there would a need for the whole council to decide on the level of funding needed for schools.
Finance portfolio holder, Labour’s Cllr David Thomas said: “When you look at the final figure it’s certainly alarming.
“What we have to accept is that there’s a lot of uncertainty around the projections in these forecasts and a lot might change.”
“There is also the question of the flat (cash) settlement we’ve asked schools to work to  currently it’s just indicative.”
“As a cabinet and council there is no way we can allow that deficit to actually materialise as it would pose a significant threat to the authority as a whole.”
The report was noted by cabinet. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​