Powys County Council’s newly formed Cabinet fails at the first hurdle. After a stormy debate on the 3rd Oct where the Council reaffirmed that all decisions on the future of schools across the County would be taken by the 10 Councillors in the Cabinet. The decision provoked a furious reaction from opposition councillors, parents, students and teachers, who protested outside County Hall.
Despite this opposition, on the following day, 4th Oct, the Cabinet was asked to make its first significant decision on possible school closure. The Cabinet failed to take all the evidence into account and made a completely ‘political’ decision to close a high performing Church in Wales Primary School in the very north of Montgomeryshire.
Only 7 of the 10 strong Cabinet were present on the day and only one of those seven was from Montgomeryshire, the others being from Brecon and Radnor.
Cllr. Aled Davies, Conservative Group joint leader, said:
‘Is this what democracy has come to in Powys, when a group of 10 leading Powys Independent and Lib Dem councillors push through a change from board to cabinet system of running the council and then award themselves a 40% increase in their allowances.
This is followed by a wholly inappropriate decision to start a consultation on closing an excellent, high achieving school while a third of the cabinet members are on holiday, and to top this only one member of that Cabinet came from Montgomeryshire.
On the following Thursday, when I attended an important Scrutiny Committee a further 2 Cabinet members fail to attend to answer questions because they had also gone on holiday.
Next May cannot come soon enough, when the people of Powys can vote out this shambolic excuse for a Cabinet.’
