22 November 2012 Last updated at 09:08 ET

Plans to shut Beguildy school over falling numbers

Plans to close a small school in Powys could save the county council £100,000, say officials.

Public consultation over the future of Beguildy Primary School, near Knighton, started on Thursday.

Powys council said it wanted to shut the school because of falling numbers and the cost per pupil was well above the county average.

On Tuesday, consultation over plans to shut St Joseph's Roman Catholic Aided School in Brecon started.

Powys council has been reviewing the future of primary and secondary schools, but there has been opposition to closure of Beguildy school.

"Powys County Council has received yet another very low grant settlement and we are faced with tough decisions," said Councillor Myfanwy Alexander, the council's cabinet member for learning and leisure.

"We have to share our limited resources as fairly as we can, and that means distributing funding equally across communities so we can support all learners as well as possible."

A public meeting at Beguildy school will be held on 6 December at 19:00 GMT. Meetings will be held with staff and governors earlier in the day.

People have until 4 January to voice their concerns.

Following the consultation period the council's cabinet will decide whether or not to shut the school.

A vote in favour would trigger a further opportunity for people to voice their opinions on the closure.

School inspectors have told Powys council to make "significant improvement" to its education service.

Earlier this month, inspection body Estyn criticised performance and gave the authority 50 days to prepare an action plan.