Welshpool High School money woes due to “underfunding for years”
Known as SWAP, the internal auditors were tasked by the council’s Governance and Audit committee to conduct a review to assess the “adequacy” of the governance and controls at Welshpool High School.
The report gives a “limited assurance opinion” and will be discussed by members of the Governance and Audit committee next Thursday (May 8).
Findings show that the school on the whole is run well – with most assurance opinions in the green and “operating effectively”.
However, the schools’ finances are flashing red and SWAP believe this requires “major improvement.”
The Chair of Governors at the school said that the report contained “out-of-date figures” and that Welshpool High School was “one of many Powys schools that has been underfunded for years through the council’s funding formula”.
This is what the report highlighted
At the time the report was written, the school’s budget was forecast to be in a cumulative deficit balance of £157,826 by the end of March.
This is expected to rise to £296,393 by the end of March 2025/2026 and predicted to be up to £407,129 by the end of March, 2027/2028.
SWAP said: “The school are operating with an unlicensed budget and there is currently no formalised deficit recovery plan in place. The school has not set and submitted a balanced budget for at least three years.
“The cash flat budget projections from the local authority last year prevented the school from achieving a balanced budget.
“However, a recent cash injection from the local authority has now enabled the school to work towards this goal.”
SWAP said that a business manager for the school had been working with the council’s central finance team to find ways of balancing the books.
At a meeting in January the school had presented council finance chiefs with “potential budget savings” that they could make to do this.
The report says that by the end of April, headteacher Jon Arnold was supposed to “deliver and produce” an approved balanced budget and recovery plan.
Eight other “agreed actions” also needed to be completed by the end of April which include compulsory training for school governors as well as reviewing and reporting on the risk of fraud.
This is how the school has responded through Mr Jeff Johnson, Chairman of Governors:
“It is disappointing that this report has been published containing out-of-date figures when the governing body, head teacher, school business manager and staff have been working hard to produce improvements as required by the end of April.
“Welshpool High School is one of many Powys schools that has been underfunded for years through the council’s funding formula – a fact now recognised by the authority. This meant it was impossible to present a balanced budget without seriously jeopardising the education of the pupils.
“The school was given an April deadline to present an improved financial position and has submitted predictions of balanced budgets for the next four years.
“The school’s business manager will continue to work with the council’s central finance team to achieve balanced budgets going forward.
“All other issues highlighted will be, or are already being addressed, and the governing body is pleased to see that finance is the only red flag in the report which otherwise recognises that the school is being run well and effectively.”
The bigger picture for Powys schools
Back in December, the stark financial position of all secondary and all through schools was highlighted by the need to pump an extra £7.4 million into the schools delegated budget this year.
This was done in the hope of staving off cumulative deficits predicted to be close to £16 million by the end of March 2027/2028.
Other secondary and all-throughs were noted to be in a far worse financial predicament than Welshpool.
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