To consider a report by County Councillor Arwel Jones, Portfolio Holder for Education and County Councillor Wynne Jones, Portfolio Holder for Finance.
Minutes:
Cabinet considered a report on the budget position of Brecon High School. There was a substantial and unsustainable potential deficit £1.357m by 2018/19 in addition to the outstanding loan of £216k. The school had concluded that reductions required to produce a balanced budget for 2016/17, which would require a reduction of 10 members of staff, was not an acceptable option as it would have considerable impact across the school and would be detrimental to the progress made in improving standards and maintaining progress against the Estyn recommendations which had led to the school being removed from special measures.
County Councillor David Meredith spoke as the Chair of Governors. He advised that the school had already taken steps to reduce costs leading to increased class sizes and the Governors took the view that further reductions in staffing levels would leave the school unable to deliver the curriculum and risk putting it in special measures. He also noted that uncertainty created by school reorganisation proposals had led to the loss of Welsh medium pupils and consequent loss of funding. He asked the Leader and Portfolio Holder and senior officers attend a meeting of staff and parents to explain the decision.
County Councillor Matthew Dorrance spoke as a local member. He questioned whether the school was adequately funded noting that two independent reviews had concluded that savings could not be delivered without negatively impacting on learner outcomes. He asked if the reorganisation policy should be revisited and he called for meaningful discussions with the school and local members about what could be done in partnership.
County Councillor Gillian Thomas spoke as a local member. She noted that the budget issues in the school went back to 2010 when the LEA was slow to respond. She argued that reorganisation proposals had led to pupils leaving and the Welsh medium pupils moving to Builth at a cost of £100k per annum in transport.
Cabinet noted that Brecon was not the only high school facing financial pressures with projected deficits in the secondary sector of £2.5m by 2018/19. The Portfolio Holder for Finance cautioned that this was a problem that threatened the financial viability of the Council and was a consequence of not taking forward the schools reorganisation programme. It would not be equitable to put additional money into just one school, but to put Brecon High School on the same footing as other schools, payments on the loan would have to be set-aside for the time being.
The overspend in the current year was £353k equivalent to 7 teachers and projected deficit for next year was £529k equivalent to 10 teachers and the Head of Schools advised that if these staffing cuts were implemented he doubted the school would be able to deliver the learning measure and there would be a significant impact on standards.
The Strategic Director Resources (Section 151 Officer) cautioned that projected schools deficits were a serious risk for the authority and that the Council could not afford to run the number of schools on the funding available.
Cabinet felt that with continued reductions in pupil numbers the secondary school reorganisation programme and the funding formula needed to be looked at again.
RESOLVED |
Reason for Decision: |
That the report is noted
|
That an appropriate budget plan is submitted by the school;
And to ensure that the school has a financial basis on which to ensure that the school continues to progress the recommendations for improvement. |
Councillor Arwel Jones left the meeting at 15.28.
Supporting documents: