School faces £100k bus cash row bill as Powys County Council calls for repayment of transport subsidy

Llanfyllin High School spent the money transporting 149 students from outside its catchment area in Shropshire to and from the school – which is against Powys County Council policy.

A report, which will be considered by the council's cabinet on Tuesday, recommends that the school pays back the money spent on subsidising transport to ensure that it is fully compliant with county policy.

But councillors who sit on the school's board of governors say they are calling on the council to withdraw the report before Tuesday's cabinet meeting. They say that the report is premature and that no decision should be taken until an independent review by a barrister is completed.

The governors have claimed that the council was fully aware that the school was spending the money on subsidising transport, and warn that any move to demand repayment will penalise current pupils.

The matter came to public attention after officials from the Wales Audit Office revealed that the school spent £500,000 on subsidising the transport costs of pupils from outside its catchment area. As well as 149 pupils from the Oswestry area, 38 from Powys also benefited from the subsidy.

The move goes against a policy introduced by Powys County Council which prevents schools using their delegated budgets to pay for a service already provided by the council.

The report issued by cabinet portfolio holder for finance, Councillor Wynne Jones, says that in 2015/2016 the High School was expected to spend £142,5000 of its delegated schools budget to fund out of catchment area transport and collect about £40,000 from parents.

"The deficit is estimated at £102,500," he said. "A similar pattern has occurred over the previous five years. This means in five years of non-compliance it is estimated £464,000 has been spent on subsidising transport for out-of-catchment pupils."

The report also says the council has the power to remove delegated funding from schools. "Whilst this remains an option we hope that the school will comply with the policy and work with the council. This being the case it is not felt that this action should be considered at this stage."

However the report does recommend that the school be required to use the council's financial system as its primary accounting system.

School governor and county councillor Gwynfor Thomas said he could not comment on the details of the report.

"Myself and some of the other Local Eduction Authority governors are calling on the council to withdraw the report before cabinet on Tuesday, pending the outcome of the independent investigation," he said.