Assurances have been given by Powys education chiefs that a staffing review to find £400,000 in savings will not affect specialist help given to schools.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Learning and Skills scrutiny committee on 29 January, members heard the council’s education department has to deliver £1.261m savings to help the council balance its books with £400,000 to come from a staffing review.

In November, the administration agreed a new Additional Learning Needs (ALN) and Inclusion Strategic Plan for Powys youngsters, and Cllr Angela Davies wondered whether this strategy would be weakened.

Director of education, Richard Jones said: “It’s not just an exercise in cuts. There isn’t any reduction in staff in our ALN teams.”