The Learning and Skills Scrutiny Committee reviewed the draft Schools Asset Management Plan (SAMP) 2025-29, focusing on its strategic alignment, objectives, and key priority areas. The committee was keen to ensure that the plan would support sustainability, inclusivity, safety, and prudent financial management within the council's schools. The committee made several recommendations to be incorporated into the plan.

Schools Asset Management Plan 2025-2029

The committee reviewed the draft Schools Asset Management Plan 2025-2029, a document outlining the long-term strategy for managing and developing the school estate. The plan aligns with Powys County Council’s vision, statutory duties, and Welsh Government priorities, aiming to provide safe, sustainable, and inspiring learning environments.

The SAMP is driven by several key policy documents:

• The Stronger, Fairer, Greener [Corporate and Strategic Equality Plan (CSEP)]¹
• The Strategic Asset Management Plan
• The Transforming Education Strategy 2020 - 2032
• The Welsh-medium Education Plan (WESP)
• The Additional Learning Needs Transformation Programme
• The Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS)

The plan is also designed to support the Welsh Government's ambition for a Net Zero carbon public sector by 2030, the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and the council’s climate change strategy.

The plan identifies key priority areas:

• Strategic Asset Management Approach
• Suitability, Sufficiency, and Inclusivity
• Sustainability
• Collaboration and Community Engagement

The committee discussed the methodology and criteria for prioritising school improvement projects, as detailed in Appendix 1 of the plan. This includes factors such as health and safety, statutory legislation, overall condition of school buildings, and the sufficiency of teaching spaces.

The committee provided feedback on the plan using a Scrutiny Pro Forma, focusing on strategic alignment, strategic objectives, and key priority areas. The guiding principles for the committee included assessing the plan's impact on individuals and communities, its efficiency and effectiveness, and potential risks. They also considered the plan from the perspective of long-term planning, prevention, integration, collaboration, and involvement, as well as its potential impacts on protected groups under the Equality Act 2010, those experiencing socio-economic disadvantage, and opportunities for using the Welsh language.

School Budget Balances and Financial Reporting

The committee reviewed the schools' out-turn reports and expressed concerns about discrepancies in financial reporting between different documents, particularly concerning primary sector reserves. They requested a historical overview of school budget balances over the past 3-4 years to be included in future reports to identify trends and emerging risks.

Delegated Funding and Curriculum

The committee discussed the use of delegated funding in dual-stream schools, particularly for Welsh-medium education, and requested a full investigation into its effectiveness and transparency. They also suggested broadening the investigation to include Additional Learning Needs (ALN), Special Educational Needs (SEN), and post-16 provision across all language mediums.

School Size, Outcomes, and Budget Correlation

The committee proposed further work to explore the relationship between school size, financial health, and pupil outcomes. They suggested collating data to show school size, budget position, and attainment levels to assess whether economies of scale were being realised.

Additional Scrutiny Committee Recommendations

The committee made several recommendations for further action:

• Member Development Sessions: Regular sessions for all councillors to reinforce their roles as local authority governors.
• Analysis of School Finances: A paper analysing the relationship between school size, pupil numbers, staffing levels, budget balances, and pupil outcomes.
• Joint Working Group: Establishment of a joint working group between the Finance Panel and the Learning and Skills Committee to support the development of financial analysis.
• Activity-Based Costing Exercise: An assessment of funding versus expenditure, covering Welsh medium, ALN, SEN, and post-16 provision across both language mediums.
• Historical Budget Data: Inclusion of historical budget data in future reports to identify long-term trends and emerging risks.
• Financial Reporting of School Enterprises: Summarising and reporting the financial implications of school-run enterprises alongside delegated budgets to ensure transparency and accountability.
• Review Strategic Equality KPIs: Revise the strategic equality KPIs to reflect cumulative surplus rather than in-year surplus as the benchmark for financial health.
• An Investigation into how the money allocated for Welsh Medium Education and ALN was being spent in schools.
• A paper be created analysing outcomes in relation to pupil numbers, teacher numbers, and other relevant variables.
• That the approach initiated through the deep dive process be continued and that support for schools be maintained.
• Committee be provided with a breakdown of part-time staff across schools to better understand staffing structures

School Budgets - Deep Dive

The committee received a presentation on school budget deep dives, which had been conducted across all secondary and all-age schools, with a few primary and special schools included. The reviews examined pupil-teacher ratios, average teacher costs, class sizes, curriculum models, and leadership structures.