COUNCILLORS will decide in July if the decisions about the future of schools in Powys will be taken out of the cabinet’s hands and put with the full council.

In a special full council meeting on Monday, Powys County Council (PCC) chief executive Jeremy Patterson discussed the current consultations on re-organisation of secondary schools in Llandrindod Wells and Builth Wells, and further south in the county.

A motion was put forward at a previous meeting by Cllr Myfanwy Alexander to give the responsibility to the full council, this was seconded by Cllr Gareth Ratcliffe.

At the start of the meeting, monitoring officer Clive Pinney stated a vote could be made on the matter, but this never went ahead, with only a handful of councillors mentioning the decision in the meeting that lasted over two hours.

A similar motion was passed recently in Pembrokeshire, and Cllr Ratcliffe has confirmed this decision will now take place at the July meeting.

The councillor for Hay said: “The motion was put forward in April, but Tuesday’s meeting turned into a consultation meeting.

“It was decided to bring the motion back after the schools consultation meeting has finished.

“A member of the public, who wishes to remain anonymous raised the point of giving the county council the decision, and elected members should make this decision.”

A consultation is currently taking place on proposals to close Llandrindod and Builth Wells High Schools, and open them up as one school over two separate sites.

In the future, the Llandrindod site would then close, and a new school would be built in Builth Wells.

Various matters regarding school closures were discussed at Monday’s meeting, and on the matter of who should have the say on closures, Cllr Stephen Hayes believes the decision should remain with cabinet.

The portfolio holder for Property and Assets, and Social Care said: “I understand why people think this should be a whole council decision, but I recall how difficult the council have found it in previous years, how all 73 members found it hard to reach a consensus on complex matters.

“It should be a cabinet decision.

“There are concerns members have already arrived at a conclusion, but I haven’t and I am looking forward to receiving the results of the consultation.”