Committee warns further job losses are inevitable at Welsh high school

Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter 

More job losses will inevitably happen at Welsh high school as senior leaders and governors grapple with its financial issues.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Governance and Audit committee on Wednesday, January 14, councillors and independent lay members received the findings of the report by internal auditors SWAP into Newtown High School, which also includes the John Beddoes campus in Presteigne.

The report, which was completed in July, shows that the number one priority for the school is to deal with its financial problems.

The school’s budget is forecast a cumulative deficit balance of £740,000 by the end of 2025/2026, rising to £1.068 million by the end of 2026/2027 and predicted to be £1.73 million by the end of 2027/2028.

Under questioning from the committee, the school’s headteacher, Natalie Havard, explained that currently the best prediction for the school is that the deficit will come down to £1.5 million by 2027/2028.

But this came from updated figures which had the school with a deficit of £2.1 million at 2027/2028.

Mrs Havard said: “We submitted a budget recovery plan that was accepted on November 14.

“We also had a warning notice from the local authority and we attended a meeting with the Director of Education, Dr Richard Jones, and the s151 officer (and Director of Corporate Services) Jane Thomas on November 26.

“We have two consultations in place – one for support staff and one for teaching staff – which will help us address the deficit and the unlicensed budget that we are operating.

“We are considering further restructuring within leadership (team) and are willing to consider further management of change as necessary as we respond and reflect on the ongoing issues with pupil numbers.”

Mrs Havard continued: “We are pleased that there are things being brought to the table at cabinet-level in terms of the new funding formula and updates to the ALN (Additional Learning Needs) funding and we hope that will add some further support to the school and more in line with our delegated budget.”

“We are where we are and we’re doing what we can.

“The figures are not brilliant and unfortunately I can’t make them any different than what they are.”

She added that the school had come out of the Estyn Review category despite losing the equivalent of 5.2 full-time members of staff.

On the John Beddoes campus, which is 28 miles away from Newtown, Mrs Havard said: “We are looking at further savings on the John Beddoes campus by amalgamating classes.

“We have to measure learner entitlement and encourage pupils to remain in East Radnorshire, making sure we have viable provision here with the cuts we are making.

“It’s very much a balancing act in terms of what we can and can’t do.”

Education portfolio holder, Cllr James Gibson-Watt: “The school is taking appropriate actions on the issues raised. The issue of most concern is the deficit position, the recovery plan is in place the authority has approved, and we hope it will do the trick and start reducing the deficit.

“The explanations given have been very good and comprehensive.”

The committee noted the report.