A SENIOR Monmouthshire councillor has been accused of dodging questions about a school under fire from former staff.

Cabinet member for children and young people Cllr Liz Hacket Pain was told that she had delivered “five minutes of drivel” as she answered questions on staff reorganisation at Chepstow School.

But she revealed nearly £800,000 has been spent on redundancy payments there over the last two years.

In 2013/14 £426,000 was spent, while £369,000 was paid in 2014/15, she told the council meeting at County Hall in Usk on Thursday.

She told the Labour group leader Cllr Dimitri Batrouni, after dismissing one of his queries as “lazy”, that staffing matters were for the school’s governors, not her.

Cllr Hacket Pain told Cllr Batrouni: “I’m not sure what staffing matters you are referring to. Staffing matters take place all the time. I do think I know what it’s referring to, but I don’t want to answer the question as I don’t have any firm understanding.

“In effect, the authority does not have any straight forward matters to do with staffing. That again comes down to the governing body, the appointment of teachers is the governing body. Anything to do with staffing issues is the governing body.”

Cllr Batrouni said he was having “all sorts of emails and correspondents about matters relating to Chepstow School”.

Independent Cllr Bob Hayward criticised Cllr Hacket Pain for answering the question with “five minutes of drivel saying I don’t understand the question” and said if she was unclear about the question she should have asked for clarity when it was submitted 10 days before the meeting.

But governor Cllr Peter Farley defended the school.

Cllr Farley said he gave “unequivocal support for the head, the senior leadership and middle management and staff and pupils, in short the whole community, in their work for the continuing improvement of the school, particularly as they are facing a barrage of criticism the kind of which I have never encountered in 45 years in education.”

Chepstow School staff and Monmouthshire council will meet today (Mon) to discuss several matters, including imminent redundancies. The school has estimated it will be in a deficit of £314,793 at the end of 2015/16.

But 13 former teachers have called for an inquiry into the leadership there. The group’s Facebook page, Enquiry at Chepstow School, had 404 members yesterday (Sun).