Councillor urged to choose words with care after calling school's spending 'reckless'

AN Old Colwyn councillor was told his language was 'not appropriate' after he accused a school of being reckless with its spending after the headteacher asked for a council loan. Ysgol Eirias in Colwyn Bay had requested a bridging loan of £205,205 to enable them to set a balanced budget.

- By RICHARD EVANS Local Democracy Reporter [e-mail]

Conwy has slashed school budgets over recent years but can still allocate school loans, but applications of more than £100,000 must be reviewed by a School Loans Panel.

The recommendation at the cabinet meeting at Coed Pella on Tuesday was to approve the loan. But speaking at the meeting, backbench councillor David Carr urged cabinet to be cautious about lending the money.

"On this school, I was the governor at the school for two years, and I've got reservations on the financial management," he said.

"Obviously, Julie (cabinet member for education Cllr Julie Fallon) has not gone into great detail at this meeting, but we need more detail of the school before we go ahead.

"It's difficult really as a former governor, but I did at times think they were quite reckless in their spending, and Julie (Cllr Fallon) was saying they actually had systems in place for the last few years to actually (spend less)."