'Ambitious plan' to transform Powys schools with £300 million to go to Government

Powys County Council has prepared a new Strategic Outline Programme (SOP) to submit to the Welsh Government's Sustainable Communities for Learning's nine-year rolling programme.

Today Powys County Council's Cabinet approved the programme for submission to the Welsh Government.

There are questions around where the money will come from to finance the later years of the programme.

If approved by the Welsh Government, the programme will help the council deliver its Transforming Education Programme, which was relaunched in 2022 along with an updated version of the Strategy for Transforming Education in Powys, as well as help to deliver the council's Welsh in Education Strategic Plan.

As part of the submission, the proposed £300m programme would see the Welsh Government provide just under £200m of funding for the construction of new education facilities with the council providing just over £100m.

Councillor Pete Roberts, Cabinet Member for a Learning Powys, said: "Securing the best start in life for our young people is the only way that we can build a Stronger, Fairer and Greener Powys. One of the ways we can achieve this is by transforming education.

"The Strategic Outline Programme that we will now submit to the Welsh Government can act as a catalyst to transform education in the county.

"It will help us provide planned provision for increasing the opportunities for a growing number of children and young people to become fully bilingual, fluent in both Welsh and English while delivering 21st century facilities that would provide environments where learners and teachers thrive and reach their potential.

"I believe that this programme will help the council meet the aims of the Strategy for Transforming Education in Powys and implement the commitments in our Welsh in Education Strategic Plan, which will enable us to make good progress against our target of increasing the number of pupils being taught through the medium of Welsh."

To read the updated Strategy for Transforming Education 2020-2032 and details of the Transforming Education Programme - Wave 2 (2022 - 2027) visit Transforming Education on the council's website.

Extra reporting by Elgan Hearn of the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The first three years up to 2027 will be made up of projects expected to reach a “full business case.”

The projects in the second three-year period up to 2030 and the last section covers long term “pipeline” projects beyond 2030.

The proposals were scrutinised last month at the Learning and Skills committee.

The committee chairman, Conservative Councillor Councillor Gwynfor Thomas welcomed the “aspiration” but had some concerns.

Councillor Thomas said: “We are enthusiastic but we’re not quite clear on where we’re going.

“The commitment that’s there is for the first three years of the programme.”

He said that the committee had asked where the “resources” for years four and onwards of the programme would come from?

Especially considering the: “desperate situation we find our finances to be in at the moment.”

Councillor Thomas also said that reorganisation proposals “particularly for the north of Powys” had been put on the “back burner".

According to Councillor Thomas this is causing concern over the cost of school building maintenance and that some schools are oversubscribed.

In the previous version of the SOP, reorganising the Llanfyllin catchment area had been expected to take place from 2023 to 2025 – and now it is programmed into years seven to nine – which would be from 2030 onwards.

Director of corporate services Jane Thomas stressed that any future school building projects would need to be “affordable, prudent and sustainable".

Ms Thomas said: “The commitment is there but in terms of financing the individual projects as we move through this programme, that will be considered at later stages of the business case.”

This is when the council “can confirm” where it will find its share of the costs.

“There is further work needed on how that will be put in place, ” explained Ms Thomas.

The projects to be delivered in the first three years of the programme are:

• Ysgol Bro Hyddgen – Machynlleth new all through primary and secondary school campus.

• Ysgol Calon y Dderwen – new primary school in Newtown.

• Brynllywarch Special School in Kerry – new building.

• Sennybridge primary school – new building.

• Ysgol Golwg Pen y Fan in Brecon – new school building following the mergers of Cradoc primary with Mount Street infant and junior schools.

Years four to six:

• Re-configuration of Ysgol Bro Caereinion all through primary and secondary school in Llanfair Caereinion – which is expected to become a Welsh medium school.

• New facilities for the Ysgol Calon Cymru’s Llandrindod Wells campus which is expected to become an English medium secondary school.

• Remodelling of the Ysgol Calon Cymru Builth Wells campus – which is expected to become a new all age Welsh medium primary and secondary school.

• These proposals are dependent on how the School Transformation Programme pans out.

Years seven to nine:

• A new Church-in-Wales (CiW) primary school building to replace Llansantffraid and Llanfechain school buildings.

• A new area school to potentially replace, primary schools in Arddleen, Four Crosses, Llanymynech, and Crew Green.

• Ysgol Llanfyllin – a new campus for all age primary and secondary school.