Education officers decided not to write an assessment of the impacts of closing schools on the Powys/England border

At a meeting of Powys County Council's Cabinet on Tuesday, September 17, the wider context of reorganising schools close to the border was brought up.

This was part of debate around starting a consultation process on proposals to close Ysgol Bro Cynllaith in Llansilin near Oswestry.

Fears have been raised that there will be an exodus of pupils to Shropshire if it is closed.

Similar concerns have been raised in the past.

The proposals to close Bro Cynllaith were mulled over by the previous Independent/Conservative administration in 2021 and 2022.

But in March 2022 a decision to consult on a proposal to close the school were kicked into touch ahead of the May 2022 local elections.

Conservative group leader, Councillor Aled Davies who represents Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant and Llansilin was the deputy leader during the last administration.

Councillor Davies recalled: "There was a commitment from officers towards the end of the previous cabinet that a report would be written on the impact of closing small schools along the border would have on Powys.

"That report has never written."

He asked whether the cabinet or council officer had taken the decision not to write the assessment?

Councillor Davies said: "I think that report would be extremely important and informative on how we deal with schools along the border.

"It should be resurrected before we go any further."

He pointed out that another primary school under threat in the Llanfyllin catchment area is Ysgol Brynhafren in Crew Green, which is also close to the Shropshire border.

Head of schools transformation Marianne Evans agreed that the border is an issue.

Ms Evans said: "There was a piece of work we were due to complete.

"It was an officer decision at the time."

Ms Evans told the committee that it was thought best to look at border school issues on a "case by case basis", because every locality and school has different circumstances.

Ms Evans said: "I am sure the border issue here will come through very strongly and we will present that back to cabinet if the consultation happens."

Earlier cabinet member for a connected Powys, Liberal Democrat Councillor Jake Berriman asked what had changed in the time since the proposal to close Bro Cynllaith was discussed by the previous administration.

Ms Evans said: "The preferred way forward is the same.

"Llanfyllin is a challenging catchment in terms of the number and types of schools."

A year ago Ms Evans had explained that it could take 10 years to reorganise the Llanfyllin catchment area and that it needed to be done in stages.

The latest part of that process saw Llangedwyn Church in Wales school officially close at the end of August.

Ms Evans said: "We needed to know what was happening with Llangedwyn before we brought forward a report on Bro Cynllaith."

Cabinet unanimously agreed to start the consultation process which could see Bro Cynllaith close on August 31 next year.