Council's Cabinet misled

Ceredigion Council's Cabinet misled before vote on future of rural schools

The Welsh Government's Cabinet Secretary for Education has denied that a Ceredigion Council official received approval from the Government when drawing up proposals to close four of the county's rural Welsh schools, contrary to what he said before a crucial cabinet vote on the matter.

On 3 September this year, a majority of Ceredigion Council's Cabinet voted to hold a statutory consultation on proposals to close Ysgol Llangwyryfon, Ysgol Craig-yr-Wylfa, Ysgol Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn and Ysgol Syr John Rhys in Ponterwyd.

During the discussions preceding the vote, Barry Rees, Corporate Director of Ceredigion Council, said that he had received assurances from the Welsh Government that the proposals within the consultations complied with the Welsh Government’s School Organisation Code.

The Code states that the consultative process on the future of any school should be carried out when proposals are "still at a formative stage."

Shortly after the vote, Cymdeithas yr Iaith sent a complaint to Lynne Neagle, the Welsh Government's Cabinet Secretary for Education over the local authority's compliance with the Code, as well as a freedom of information request to verify Mr. Rees’ claim.

In their freedom of information request, they asked to see any correspondence or meeting notes between Ceredigion Council and the Welsh Government that might have given the Council the impression that the Government approved their compliance with the Code.

The only relevant comment received back from the request was that an unnamed Welsh Government official, who had only received the Council's version of what happened, said in an email to Barry Rees:

"Please note that these are personal points and I cant [sic] make any legal comments; I've only been able to have a quick look but hope this helps"

In a letter responding to Cymdeithas yr Iaith's complaint, Lynne Neagle said:

"I am not sure what is behind the comments made at the local authority Cabinet meeting; however, I can confirm that the Welsh Government does not certify or approve any possible proposal to reorganise schools."

Responding, Ffred Ffransis, from Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s Education Group, said:

"What was said by this officer is not a solid basis for the Director to state to the Cabinet that the Welsh Government has approved their process of drawing up proposals to close the schools and, without this intervention and assurance, it is very possible that the majority of Council members would not have been willing to start a formal consultation their closure."

Despite the criticism of the officer, Lynne Neagle MS did not directly answer Cymdeithas yr Iaith's basic complaint that Ceredigion Council had broken the Code.

Mr Ffransis added:

"We are very disappointed that the Education Secretary has not answered our basic questions - namely whether a local authority must start from a presumption against closing rural schools, or whether a council like Ceredigion can start the process with the intention of closing a number of rural schools in order to make savings to their budget?

"And she failed to answer whether alternative options must be considered "while proposals are still at a formative stage", like is clearly stated in the Code, or do Ceredigion Council get to decide on a proposal to close schools first, and then reject each alternative option with the same generic sentence in every case?

"Instead, she has asked in the letter for everyone to respond to the proposals in the consultation. We will therefore encourage people to do that, and raise the issue with her again at the end of the process if Ceredigion Council does not respond to the voice of the people. But we hope that a government in Cardiff Bay will not have to tell a council in the west, led by Plaid Cymru, that they must protect schools and rural Welsh communities, but that councillors will vote for that themselves."