Judge Warns Council, but does not Stop School Closure Plans

In a Judicial Review judgment issued today, Judge Jarman agreed with Governors that Carmarthenshire County Council had a case to answer over the claim that they had not given proper and timely consideration to alternative proposals other than closing Ysgol Meidrim in Carmarthenshire, but declined to halt the process at this stage while giving the Council a warning. In Clause 38 of his public written judgment today, he wrote

“In this particular case, in my judgment it was reasonable to consider whether the consultation process was fatally flawed in the way the claimant says. If it was, then it is understandable that the claimant would not want to wait on the off chance that, notwithstanding the flaws, the governing body’s options or one of them may be adopted. I have concluded that provided those (options) are considered conscientiously then the challenge is not made out, but I would not find that the challenge was premature.”

In response Ffred Ffransis from Cymdeithas yr Iaith in Carmarthenshire said

“Cymdeithas yr Iaith was not a party to the legal action but we well understand why a parent of a pupil with severe medical needs, having received evidence from the hospital that the school closure  would affect him badly, would want to use any course of action available.

“The judge criticised the lack of clear communication from the Council and that governors had the impression that the Council had not yet seriously considered alternatives to closure of Ysgol Meidrim, but found that the evidence did not yet reach the high threshold for legal intervention. He has warned the Council that they must give “conscientious consideration” to the alternative proposals drawn up by Governors.

“The Council has two choices now. Either it can ‘carry on regardless’, or it could withdraw the Closure Notice  and enter into genuine discussions with Governors over their proposals. The Council must at least demonstrate a new open attitude during the Objections Period to discussing the alternative proposals.”

The Closure Notice for Ysgol Meidrim was issued just 3 days ago on 16th June inviting objections until 14th July. The Council has been forced today to withdraw the Notice and issue a revised Closure Notice as the original notice had included nearby Ysgol Bancyfelin as one of 3 “receiving schools” but they have since discovered that Ysgol Bancyfelin is already over capacity. The Objection Period will now run until 17th July.