SPECIAL School education in Powys is to lose more than £500,000 in the next financial year following a Welsh Assembly Government decision to drastically cut the level of support to post 16 learners within the schools.
The council’s three special schools (Ysgol Cedewain and Bynllywarch in North Powys) and out of county provision – which provide support for the most vulnerable pupils in the county – will lose more than £79,000 in the current financial year and £518,000 in 2010-11.
Chairman of Powys County Council Board, Councillor Michael Jones, said the announcement is difficult to comprehend and the timing of the announcement unacceptable.
He said: “The Assembly’s decision to reduce funding for these vital provisions to 95 per cent of actual cost in the current year and to just 69 per cent of actual cost for 2010-11 is difficult to understand.
“Powys is rightly proud of the excellent record of its special school provision. There is no doubt that the size of the reduction proposed will put the individual schools and central special needs service under huge pressure with severe cuts in staffing and provision being the only avenue to balance the budget.
“The impact of the Assembly’s cuts has been exacerbated by its very late notice. We were told of the decision just weeks before the start of new financial year giving us little room for manoeuvre. Schools will have set their budgets for 2010-11 and to be informed of a 31 per cent cut at this late stage is unacceptable.
“The authority is working closely with elected members, locally and nationally, and through the Association of Directors of Education in Wales (ADEW) and the WLGA to try and resolve this matter.”