Powys Council questioned over ‘astonishing’ target of 750 school exclusions
By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter
The target came under scrutiny at a meeting of Powys County Council’s Learning and Skills Scrutiny Committee on Thursday, when members examined the authority’s latest performance report.
Cllr Claire Hall (Liberal Democrat – Crickhowell, with Cwmdu and Tretower) raised concerns about the council’s benchmark for fixed-term exclusions, arguing that the ultimate aim should be to prevent pupils from being excluded altogether.
“I was a bit concerned about us having a target of 750 for that, which I find astonishing,” she told the committee. We don't really want to have any fixed-term exclusions if everything is working as we want it to.”
She also questioned whether repeat exclusions involving individual pupils could be distorting the overall figures.
“I worry whether some individuals are skewing figures,” she added.
“Why do we have that figure as a target and is it appropriate?”
The target is included in the council’s Corporate and Strategic Equality Plan 2023–2027, which monitors performance across a range of services, including education.
Responding to the concerns, Education Support Services Manager Sarah Quibell explained that the figure of 750 was intended as a benchmark rather than a desired number of exclusions.
She said the council had been making progress in reducing exclusions following a significant increase in previous years.
“The 750 that’s put in for exclusions was a benchmarking target and we have been reducing those exclusions year on year,” she said. “There was a peak back in 2023/2024 when there was just over 900 and that came down to 714 and has reduced in the last academic year as well.”
Head of Additional Learning Needs, Inclusion and Wellbeing Judith Hickey stressed that the council's ambition was to eliminate school exclusions entirely.
“We want all our children to be in school and none of them to be excluded and that's our ultimate goal,” she told councillors.
“We are making great strides in reducing exclusions over the last two years and are making sustained reductions and our ultimate goal is to have nobody excluded – we’re on this road to make these reductions as quickly as possible.”
Figures from previous council performance reports show that fixed-term exclusions have been falling.
A total of 867 exclusions were recorded in 2023/24, rising to 897 in 2024/25 before dropping to 696 in 2025/26.
The latest figure represents a reduction of more than 22% compared with the previous year and is below the council’s benchmark of 750.
The figures are reported annually during the second quarter of the council’s performance monitoring cycle, which runs from July to September and covers the transition between academic years.
Updated figures for 2026/27 are therefore expected to be included in the next quarterly performance report.
While education officers insist that progress is being made, the discussion highlighted concerns about whether setting a numerical target for exclusions is appropriate when the council's stated ambition is to keep every child in school.
The committee’s comments and recommendations will now be forwarded to the council’s Cabinet for consideration.
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