Reacting to the report considered by Powys County Council’s Cabinet on Tuesday that schools in Powys are facing more serious funding shortfalls than was previously thought, Powys County Council’s leader of the Opposition, Welsh Liberal Democrat Cllr James Gibson-Watt, said has hit out at the authority saying he warned months ago that the funding situation was critical.

“They were warned! Back in January this year I and my colleagues were urging the council’s Cabinet to take the schools funding situation far more seriously, but our concerns were dismissed, "said Councillor Gibson-Watt.

"When we proposed that an extra £1 million should go to Powys’s schools during this year’s budget debate in February that too was dismissed by the ruling groups and voted down.

"Now we can see that our concerns were well-founded. More primary schools are falling in to deficit this year and eight out of Powys’s 12 secondary schools are in deficit; and all bar one are set to fall into deficit in 2019/20.”

“Significantly more money will have to be found for our schools system or further cut backs in staffing and teaching in the schools will have to take place to avoid this crisis turning in to a real threat to all the services the council delivers, including social care, because it threatens the financial viability of the whole council.”

“I note that our local Conservative MP in Brecon & Radnorshire accuses our council group of being too negative about the way the county council is being run by the Tories and Independents. Well, it is the Welsh Lib Dems who proposed a positive alternative budget that would have reduced this growing schools crisis and halted the cut backs to the Youth Service. It was his colleagues on the council who helped to vote it down.”