Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter
It has been decided that all councillors in a Welsh county will now have a vote on decisions to close local schools.
At a Powys County Council meeting on Thursday, October 8, Independent opposition councillors put forward a motion that the final decision on any school closure should be made at a full council meeting, and not by the cabinet.
This follows warnings from council chiefs that more primary schools need to be closed.
The latest primary school earmarked for closure is Gladestry Church in Wales Primary School.
In July, Powys council’s Liberal Democrat/Labour cabinet agreed to start the legal process to close Gladestry at the end of August 2027.
A consultation is currently taking place on the proposal, which is set to end on October 26.
Cllr Ed Jones (Powys Independents), who represents the Old Radnor ward, which includes Gladestry, said: “This is not a motion about one school, community or whether school reorganisation should take place. It is a motion about democratic accountability.
“Schools are the hearts of the community, places where children learn, staff dedicate their careers, and where families build lasting connections.
“When a school closes, the impact can be felt for decades.
“The only thing that changes is who makes a final decision.”
Joint Powys Independents leader Cllr Beverley Baynham (Presteigne) seconded the proposal and pointed out that only 15 per cent of Powys’ 68 councillors were now voting on school closures.
Cllr Baynham said: “When I first joined this council, school closures were voted for or against in this chamber, but it was changed in 2019 to a cabinet-only decision.
“We’ve tried this way for over six years. I believe we should go back to a system where every councillor has a vote. After all, is that not what we were elected for?”
Clarity
Council leader Cllr Jake Berriman (Liberal Democrat – Llandrindod North) said that while he would be voting against the motion, his group had a “free vote”.
He asked for clarity around the process of making changes and what it meant for the timeline for making school closure decisions that were currently in the pipeline.
Cllr Berriman said that “procedurally, the cabinet has business in hand”.
Head of legal services and monitoring officer Debby Jones said: “After a decision today, I would make those amendments, but they will go to Democratic Services Committee for consideration and to council for final approval.”
Joint Powys Independents leader Cllr Ange Williams (Knighton and Beguildy) asked: “If it goes through, will the decision be post-dated from today?”
Ms Jones confirmed the implementation date would be from the meeting date.
“What the amendments to the constitution look like will come back to council for approval,” said Ms Jones.
Cllr Williams added: “But it would still start from today after all that work’s done?”
Ms Jones replied: “Yes.”
Economic development portfolio holder Cllr Glyn Preston (Liberal Democrat – Llanidloes) asked what would happen if full council voted against the constitutional amendment.
“Is it (motion) null and void?” said Cllr Preston.
Ms Jones said: “You would be making a decision on my amendments; the decision being made today will not be up for debate.”
Councillors who recalled how decisions were made previously along geographic and political lines warned against making the changes.
Hard to disagree
Former council leader and now education portfolio holder Cllr James Gibson-Watt (Liberal Democrat – Glasbury), who was first elected in 1996, has been a councillor under all the different systems used to govern Powys.
Cllr Gibson-Watt said: “Whilst it’s hard to disagree with the principles of the motion, there are dangers in this.
“One thing that stood out about decisions I remember is how inconsistent they were.”
He recalled a time when three schools in different parts of Powys faced closure, with similar cases for closure being made, and councillors decided to close one and not the other two.
Cllr Gibson-Watt said: “It caused mayhem. It was chaotic, and it’s that inconsistency that would worry me.”
Later, Cllr Jones put forward a closure motion to move on to the vote, as the council was “going around in circles”, and this was agreed.
This saw 34 councillors vote in favour, 21 against and one abstain.
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