Mistake by Ceredigion Council

Welsh Language Commissioner: further mistake by Ceredigion Council over future of rural schools

The Welsh Language Commissioner has stated that Ceredigion Council has not complied with Language Standards before conducting their consultation on the closure of a rural Welsh-language school in the county.

In a letter to the chair of governors of Ysgol Llangwyryfon, Efa Gruffydd Jones said that the council had not correctly assessed the impact of closing the school on the Welsh language, as Welsh is the natural language of children on the playground in Llangwyryfon and if the school closes, the children would be sent to a nearby school where Welsh is not the language of the playground.

In its correspondence with Commissioner's office, released today, the council acknowledged that it had not complied with its responsibilities under the Language Standards, and has committed to act "as a matter of priority" to amend the Impact Assessment document on the Welsh language, publish the new version on its website, and offer more time to respond to the consultation.

Because the council has acknowledged its fault, the Commissioner says there is no need to carry out an investigation into the case.

Ysgol Llangwyryfon is one of three rural Welsh medium schools in Ceredigion which are subject to consultations on their closure, Ysgol Craig-yr-Wylfa and Ysgol Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn also face threats to their future. A consultation on the future of Ysgol Syr John Rhys in Ponterwyd is expected later this month, following a consultation with the Church in Wales. 

Responding to the correspondence, Jeff Smith, chair of the Ceredigion region of Cymdeithas yr Iaith, said:

"This is another example of how the Council has resolutely proceeded with the plan to close the four schools without first discussing the full impact of closure or all the alternative options.

"It would be much better if the Council ended all these consultations and instead sat down with the rural schools and communities to positively discuss the best options moving forward."

The local Llangwyryfon county councillor, Cllr. Gwyn Wigley Evans:

"I am disappointed that the Council did not comply with the requirements of the Welsh Language Standards, and I am glad to understand that it will act to correct its mistake, as it should."

The local authority is already facing a formal complaint to the Welsh Government's Education Secretary over compliance with the School Organisation Code when drawing up the consultation.

According to the complaint from Cymdeithas yr Iaith, sent at the beginning of the week, the council started the consultation process with the intention of making financial savings rather than putting the interests of education and learners first and not considering alternative options at the formative stage of the proposals.

In addition, the consultation period, which opened on 14 October, has been extended by two days as the Council had not put the documents on the appropriate section of their website until Tuesday evening.