CAERPHILLY council must develop plans to slash surplus pupil places and bring school buildings up to standard, education inspectors say.

The latest inspection of the authority's education and youth support services, carried out by ESTYN in December last year, found the department had no long term plan to address the issue of surplus places and did not how much money was required for its school buildings to meet national standards by 2022.

There are currently 5,860 surplus places at Caerphilly's 14 secondary and 75 primary schools and while short-term measures to address overcapacity have been identified, ESTYN has recommended the authority develop a plan for how it intends to address the problem in the longterm.

The authority has already cut 1,500 surplus places since 1996 by closing 22 primary schools and two secondary schools.

Inspectors also found information on the condition of school buildings was not up-to-date and recommends developing a plan to bring buildings up to scratch by 2022.

The report's section on this issue said: "Caerphilly is behind many authorities in Wales in planning in this area.

"This lack of planning is a barrier to progress. It creates uncertainties for schools in some areas of the county and hampers their ability to collaborate to deliver parts of the educational agenda.”

In other areas, inspectors praised the authority for taking into account the needs of vulnerable children, good anti-bullying measures, its website, the quality of school meals, providing good transport and Welsh provision.

The council said it has begun to address the recommendations made in the report and is putting together post-inspection action plan.