CONFIRMATION has been given that the powerful Welsh Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will probe the collapse of construction firm, Dawnus.

This is the result of research and investigation into the company by John Brautigam.

Mr Brautigam is an independent member and vice-chairman of Powys County Council’s (PCC) Audit committee and a former Llanfyllin Town Councillor.

In March, the Swansea based firm went into receivership. This had a profound effect on PCC’s school building programme with three projects supposed to have been built by Dawnus being put on hold.

Mr Brautigam has passed on his research to the PAC chairman, Nick Ramsey AM (Conservative – Monmouth), and has been told it will be part of the discussion at the PAC meeting on Monday, June 24.

Mr Brautigam, said: “It’s going to be part of the evidence session on June 24, as part of the discussion on business confidentiality versus wider public interest.”

At the last meeting of the Audit Committee, Mr Brautigam outlined his findings into the company’s collapse.

He wondered why the Welsh Government, which had given  Dawnus a loan of £3.5 million, had not warned local authorities of its financial problems?

Mr Brautigam had been told that the Welsh Government justified its silence on Dawnus’ problems due to its “rationale for commercial confidentiality”.

But Mr Brautigam, believed that the rights of the taxpayer should be more important than commercial confidentiality.

If PCC had been warned of Dawnus’ problems in July 2017 when appointing Dawnus to build the schools, would they have given them the contract?

When Dawnus went bust , the 360-pupil English-medium primary school in Welshpool was partly built.

It had been expected that the staff and pupils would move there for the new school year in September.

The last two projects, a Welsh medium school in Welshpool and a new building for an all-through – primary and secondary school in Machynlleth, are still at the planning stage.

PCC’s finance and education departments say that are holding weekly update meetings on Dawnus and are in discussion with the Welsh Government over the school building project.

Welsh Government is funding the school building project 50-50 with PCC.

PCC is currently going through the tendering process to pick a firm to finish building what will be the new school building for Welshpool Church in Wales Primary School.