There are not enough schools service staff to drive forward the work of reorganising education in Powys.
This was stressed at a meeting of Powys County Council’s learning and skills scrutiny committee.
There, schools service business partner Jennie Spraggon told the committee the schools' central service was expected to be £669,000 in the red at the end of the financial year (31 March 2020).
Ms Spraggon said: “The main reasons
Cllr Lucy Roberts asked: “My question is about the range of work going on.
“I’m concerned about the lack of join up between all these different reviews going on and most importantly and possibly a reason for this is the lack of staff to actually carry out this work.
“This committee is concerned that the service has been cut to the extent that they can’t support the schools and make these big decisions that are important to the future financial viability of our schools throughout the county.”
Schools senior challenge advisor, Eurig Towns, replied: “Yes it is a concern we are a reduced number of officers in the
“That is the area we’ll need to focus on.”
Mr Towns added that
“Regarding the savings here, as senior managers, we are aware of what needs to be done, it’s just getting that capacity in place to carry out those efficiencies,” said Mr Towns.
Cllr Roberts said: “So, one set of efficiencies has
In the report, head of schools service, Dr Alec Clark, said: “We continue to monitor planned savings and will strive to deliver on the proposed savings as in the yearly forecast and budget plans.
“The close relationship with the transition team will be key in modelling
Earlier this year, £2 million was cut from the central
By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporting Service