GUIDANCE on maximum indoor temperatures could be considered following red weather warnings that closed schools during June’s heatwave. 

Record June temperatures saw some headteachers taking the decision to close schools after the “extreme heat” warning was issued by the Met Office. Abergavenny’s King Henry VIII 3-19 school - which has no air conditioning - closed due to the conditions as well as others around the town.

Chepstow’s Mount Pleasant Councillor Paul Pavia asked how Monmouthshire County Council planned to respond “to the increasing frequency of such events” at the authority’s July meeting. 

The Conservative said there was no framework in place currently and it was “left to individual headteachers to make decisions and carry the risk, I don’t think they should be left alone to do that.” 

He suggested the council, through the Welsh Local Government Association, could “press” the Welsh Government for guidance on responding to extreme weather, such as as a maximum indoor temperature. He also asked if the council would consider bringing a report to a scrutiny committee on the impact of unexpected school closures such as lost learning and pupils missing out on free school meals. 

Labour’s Laura Wright, the cabinet member for education, said the “framework headteachers work with is with information shaped by Public Health Wales and the health board” but said further information and guidance could be brought together. 

She said: “Going forward I think things like an indoor temperature would be good sense to have a maximum as well as a minimum. I’m happy to look at this.” 

The Abergavenny Grofield ward councillor also said newer school buildings, designed to net zero carbon standards, have passive cooling and natural ventilation “rather than expensive air conditioning which is provided “where necessary”.