Powys County Council has approved a new schools funding formula that could see four of the county’s 22 schools lose out by more than £100,000.

Nearly £1m extra needs to be found to make the new schools funding formula work properly, a council report outlined, with 22 schools set to see a reduction in funding under the new system approved by Powys Cabinet on 15 January.

The council has not outlined which schools are likely to see funding fall under the new formula, so it is not yet known what the changes mean for Machynlleth and Llanidloes schools.

To implement the new formula properly another £978,438 needs to be found on top of the education budget of just over £70m, but councillors are being warned to keep the debate to a “strategic level” and not to look at the impact on “winners” and “losers”.

At a previous meeting it was revealed that the current funding formula, which is based on pupil numbers in Years 7 and 10, is unlawful.

The new formula is set to come in April, and schools will be advised of the new funding levels next month.

A Powys council spokesperson told the Cambrian News that “70 schools will gain and 22 will lose out from the redistribution of the funding” but would not go into details on individual schools.

See this week’s Machynlleth & Llanidloes paper for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now