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MEIDRIM: Village school will close at Christmas after councillors vote it through

Ysgol Meidrim will close for good on 31 December after Carmarthenshire councillors voted it through on Wednesday.

Its pupils will move to Ysgol Hafodwenog or Ysgol Griffith Jones from 1 January 2027, depending on parents’ choices and admissions rules, Carmarthenshire County Council says.

The school was down to 24 pupils this term, after six children left for other schools in September.

Hafodwenog, Griffith Jones or Bancyfelin: where Meidrim children go from January

Children starting school after the closure will fall into the catchments of Hafodwenog, Griffith Jones or Ysgol Bancyfelin, which will split Meidrim’s catchment between them, the council says.

Which catchment a child is in will matter more from September 2027, under council plans to pay for free school buses to catchment schools only.

Griffith Jones in St Clears faces changes of its own. The council is consulting on making it Welsh-medium, and responses close on Tuesday.

“Incredibly difficult”: why the council says Meidrim had to close

The council says the school was picked out under its modernisation programme, adopted by cabinet in November 2024, for very low pupil numbers, lots of empty places and catchment children choosing other schools.

It also says numbers show no sign of recovering, and that the school is forecast to be in deficit by the end of this financial year.

Education cabinet member Cllr Glynog Davies said: “The decision taken by Full Council has been an incredibly difficult one, however the long term challenges facing Ysgol Meidrim could not be ignored.”

He said those challenges included “very low pupil numbers, substantial surplus capacity and the resulting financial pressures, with no evidence from the projections of sufficient growth to reverse that position”.

Cllr Davies left last week’s cabinet meeting for the Meidrim item on legal advice, having spoken for the council at the judicial review earlier this year.

“Closure is irreversible”: the fight to save Ysgol Meidrim

When the council issued closure notices for Meidrim and Llangyndeyrn in June, they drew 151 objections and nine responses in favour at Meidrim.

Its governors asked for time to prove a rescue plan could work, pointing out the school had come out of Estyn special measures in December 2025. Their case to councillors: “Closure is irreversible. Collaboration is not.”

Local councillor Jean Lewis told cabinet last week: “Once a school like this is closed, there’s no turning back the clock.”

Cymdeithas yr Iaith says the real saving is about £13,000 a year once extra transport is paid for, and warned that if Meidrim closed, “20 other Welsh-medium rural schools in Carmarthenshire are immediately under threat”.

Ysgol Y Fro in Llangyndeyrn closes too, with no pupils left

Full council also voted to close Ysgol Y Fro in Llangyndeyrn on the same date. Its pupils would have moved to Ysgol y Dderwen, but no children are currently registered there, the council says.

Its catchment will be shared out between Llangunnor, Llanddarog, Ferryside, Gwynfryn, Ysgol Gymraeg Gwenllian, Ysgol y Castell and Mynyddygarreg, whose own school was spared closure in 2021 after a campaign by the village.

Cllr Davies said: “We recognise the impact that this decision will have on the community, however the challenges faced by Ysgol Y Fro are considerable.”

He blamed low pupil numbers and empty places that showed “little likelihood of recovery due to a falling birth rate”, along with “an unsustainable financial situation”.

Three of the four schools on last year’s list are now closing

Meidrim and Y Fro were two of four rural primaries put under review in October 2025, when Meidrim had 31 pupils and Y Fro 15.

The third, Llansteffan, closed in August after a vote in March, and the Wales Greens counted it as the seventh Carmarthenshire school to shut since 2002. Pontiets, the fourth, was held back.

It is back on the list. Pontiets is one of four more village schools now facing closure at the end of 2027, with Carway, Bancffosfelen and Blaenau, and the council’s cabinet decides on 2 November whether to consult on them.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

MEIDRIM: Village school down to 24 pupils ahead of final vote on Christmas closure
The governors’ rescue plan, the savings row and last week’s cabinet vote.

SCHOOL CLOSURES: Four more Carmarthenshire village schools face the axe, three of them in the Gwendraeth Valley
Carway, Pontiets, Bancffosfelen and Blaenau could close at the end of 2027.

SCHOOL CLOSURES: Council confirms village schools in Meidrim and Llangyndeyrn to shut, but campaigners say they will fight on
The closure notices issued in June.

RURAL SCHOOLS UNDER THREAT: Carmarthenshire communities face piecemeal closures as council defends tough decisions
March’s Llansteffan vote and the Greens’ warning.

Ysgol Meidrim coverage
Every story on the school’s fight against closure.

CARMARTHENSHIRE: Parents get one week to have their say on Welsh-medium switch at four primary schools

Parents at four Carmarthenshire primary schools have one week left to have their say on plans to teach their children mainly in Welsh.

Carmarthenshire County Council wants to change the classroom language at Ysgol Bro Banw, Ysgol Griffith Jones, Ysgol Llandybie and Ysgol Llangynnwr, with consultation closing on Tuesday 20 October. Children already at the four schools would keep the teaching they have now, the council says.

Two of the four are the schools earmarked to take in pupils if village schools close. Children at Meidrim would move to Hafodwenog or Ysgol Griffith Jones if the village school shuts at Christmas.

Ysgol Llandybie is one of two schools named to take pupils from Blaenau, one of four more village schools facing closure under the council’s latest proposals.

Welsh-medium from nursery at Bro Banw, from Year 3 at Llangynnwr: what changes at each school

The council describes all four as dual-language schools, where lessons are split between English and Welsh, that would become Welsh language schools. The detail it has published for each consultation shows that only holds for two of them, Llangynnwr and Griffith Jones.

In Carmarthen, Ysgol Llangynnwr’s 324 pupils are taught in Welsh until Year 3, when families can choose Welsh-medium or a single dual-language class covering Years 3 to 6. Under the plan the whole school would go Welsh-medium, starting with Year 3 in September 2027 and complete by September 2030.

The number of families choosing the dual-language route at Llangynnwr has “decreased significantly”, the council says, though it gives no figures. Children in Years 4 to 6 in September 2027 would stay on the dual-language route until they leave.

Ysgol Griffith Jones in St Clears currently runs a mix of Welsh-medium and dual-language teaching and would follow the same timetable as Llangynnwr. The school has 303 pupils, a roll the council projects will fall to 228 by 2030.

The biggest shift would come at Ysgol Bro Banw in Ammanford, where most classes are taught mainly in English and two are Welsh-medium. Everything from nursery to Year 2 would become Welsh-medium from September 2027, with parents then choosing Welsh-medium or dual-language from Year 3.

Pupils already in Bro Banw’s English-medium classes could stay there until they leave, and the school’s specialist bases would not change, according to the council. It points to falling Welsh use among Ammanford children in the 2021 Census as a reason for the change.

Bro Banw has 428 pupils, down from 441, and is already forecast to run a £440,000 deficit. It is also one of two schools taking three-year-olds after the closure of Ammanford Nursery School.

At Ysgol Llandybie, every class is already taught mainly in Welsh, with only a “very small number” of pupils in Years 3 to 6 on the dual-language route, the council says. The change would make that formal, phased in from nursery in September 2027 and complete by September 2034, with pupils already on the roll unaffected.

Glynog Davies says learning Welsh young gives children “the best possible foundation”

Cabinet member for education and the Welsh language Cllr Glynog Davies said the plans would give children at the four schools more access to Welsh. “If agreed, this proposal will ensure that children currently attending dual language schools Ysgol Bro Banw, Ysgol Griffith Jones, Ysgol Llandybie and Ysgol Llangynnwr will have increased access to Welsh language education,” he said.

He added: “Learning Welsh from a young age gives children the best possible foundation to become confident bilingual speakers and creates new opportunities for them both inside and outside the classroom.”

The changes sit under the council’s 10-year Welsh in Education Strategic Plan, its blueprint for a bilingual Carmarthenshire. When the draft plan was launched in 2021, Cllr Davies spoke of “working with schools to move them along the language continuum”.

The council’s own assessment for each school says the change is “likely to have a positive impact on opportunities to use the Welsh language”. None of the four gives figures for how many families currently choose Welsh-medium education.

The council accepts a “relatively small” number of families may choose a school taught mainly in English instead, but does not name a nearby alternative for any of the four.

Language campaigners have already attacked the council over its separate closure plans for rural schools. Ffred Ffransis of Cymdeithas yr Iaith said the authority was “on a mission to close village schools”.

One week to speak up, and a formal objection comes later

Anyone with a stake in the four schools, parents and grandparents included, has until 11.59pm on Tuesday 20 October to fill in the council’s survey for their school: Ysgol Bro Banw, Ysgol Griffith Jones, Ysgol Llandybie or Ysgol Llangynnwr.

Those who would rather write can email [email protected] or post to Owain Lloyd, the council’s director of education, at County Hall in Carmarthen.

Speaking up now is not the same as objecting. Under the council’s process a formal objection can only be lodged once a legal notice is published, and that is not expected until January 2027, after cabinet has read the responses in December.

By then the first Bro Banw and Llandybie nursery intake under the new rules would be eight months away, and Blaenau and Meidrim families could be wondering which school, and which language, their children are heading for.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

• SCHOOL CLOSURES: Four more Carmarthenshire village schools face the axe, three of them in the Gwendraeth Valley – Ysgol Carwe, Pontiets, Bancffosfelen and Blaenau could close at the end of 2027, with Blaenau pupils heading to Penygroes or Llandybie.
• MEIDRIM: Village school down to 24 pupils ahead of final vote on Christmas closure – Pupils would transfer to Hafodwenog or Ysgol Griffith Jones from January if the closure goes ahead.
• CARMARTHENSHIRE: Schools’ £16m deficit could push council into the red – Bro Banw has one of the largest primary deficits in the county.
• AMMANFORD: County’s only nursery school to close, taking Carmarthenshire’s last full-time nursery places with it – Bro Banw and Ysgol Gymraeg Rhydaman are to take children from age three on a part-time basis.
• New plan will shape the future of Welsh-medium education for next 10 years across Carmarthenshire, say council – The 2021 draft of the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan behind these changes.

SCHOOL CLOSURES: Four more Carmarthenshire village schools face the axe, three of them in the Gwendraeth Valley

Three more Gwendraeth Valley village schools could close at the end of 2027, along with Ysgol Blaenau near Llandybie.

Ysgol Carwe, Ysgol Pontiets and Ysgol Bancffosfelen are all named in closure plans going before Carmarthenshire Council councillors on Tuesday, with 155 children across the four schools facing a move.

The council’s education scrutiny committee will be asked to back formal consultation on all four. Cabinet would make that call on 2 November.

It comes a day before full council takes the final vote on closing Ysgol Meidrim and Ysgol Y Fro in Llangyndeyrn.

Which Carmarthenshire schools could close, and where the pupils would go

Carway’s 58 pupils have been taught at Ysgol Gwynfryn in Pontyates for more than a year. The council wants to make that move permanent from 1 January 2028.

Their own building shut over safety fears in August 2025, and the council puts the cost of the work it needs at more than £2m over five years.

At Bancffosfelen, 48 pupils would move to Ysgol Pontyberem. The council says the school hall has been declared structurally unsafe and needs knocking down, after a 1960s classroom extension had already been taken out of use.

All teaching now happens in the original Victorian building, which the council says suffers persistent water coming in, damp and mould.

Pontiets’ 21 pupils would move to Ysgol Ponthenri, with nearly three-quarters of the school’s places empty, according to the council.

Ysgol Blaenau, near Llandybie, has 28 pupils, only four of whom live in its catchment, the council says. They would move to Ysgol Gymraeg Penygroes or Ysgol Llandybie.

Gwendraeth Valley village schools hit hardest

If they all go ahead, four of the six village schools facing closure in the county by the end of 2027 would be in the valley. Ysgol Y Fro in Llangyndeyrn is set to shut at Christmas if full council agrees on Wednesday.

Most of the children would stay in the valley, moving to Ysgol Gwynfryn, Ysgol Ponthenri or Ysgol Pontyberem.

The valley has been here before. Mynyddygarreg’s school was spared after its community campaigned for more than a year and gathered a petition of more than 1,000 signatures.

Pontyates has already fought to keep its GP surgery this year. Hywel Dda University Health Board dropped its plan to close Meddygfa’r Sarn in May after a four-month campaign, but campaigners now say no GP partnership has come forward to run it.

Blaenau and Pontiets have faced closure before

This is the second closure threat for Blaenau. In December 2021 the council put plans to close Blaenau and Mynyddygarreg on hold, with education cabinet member Glynog Davies calling for a fuller review first.

Pontiets was one of four rural primaries put under review last year, but its consultation was shelved while Carway’s future was unresolved.

What closing the four schools would save

The council says closing all four would save around £140,000 a year in running costs. Pontiets accounts for almost half of that, at £66,807.

Blaenau’s finances are the worst of the four: it ended 2025-26 £287,857 in deficit and is forecast to reach £362,556 this year, according to the council. Bancffosfelen is £62,924 in the red and heading for £107,773.

Carway and Pontiets were both in surplus in March, but the council expects both to slip into deficit this year.

It also points to building bills it would avoid, including £727,321 of work at Bancffosfelen and £310,802 at Blaenau over five years.

Cymdeithas yr Iaith says the plans are full of “errors”

Cymdeithas yr Iaith is urging all four schools to lobby scrutiny councillors before Tuesday to reject consultation.

The group’s Ffred Ffransis said: “By proposing to close four additional village schools even before the Council has made its decision on Meidrim, the Cabinet has shown that it is on a mission to close village schools throughout the county outside the towns and a few large villages.”

He said the officers’ “rushed work” had thrown up “numerous errors”, and that the Bancffosfelen document relies on an Estyn report from 2018 when the school was inspected again this year, with the report due next month.

The group also says promises to Carway and Bancffosfelen that money had been set aside for their buildings have been broken.

Ffransis added: “The future of our village schools and communities should not be taken so lightly.”

What happens at Tuesday’s scrutiny meeting

The committee meets at County Hall in Carmarthen at 10am on Tuesday 13 October.

If cabinet agrees on 2 November, a formal consultation would follow, with the closures taking effect on 31 December 2027.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

MEIDRIM: Village school down to 24 pupils ahead of final vote on Christmas closure
Full council decides on Meidrim and Ysgol Y Fro on Wednesday.

CARWAY: Council weighing village school’s long-term future as £1.8m classrooms stay on hold
Carway’s children bussed to Pontyates, with formal proposals promised.

Carmarthenshire school closure plans put on hold… for now
Blaenau and Mynyddygarreg’s 2021 reprieve.

PONTYATES: Campaigners urge GP teams to bid for Meddygfa’r Sarn as tender opens
The search for a new GP team to run the village surgery.

MEIDRIM: Village school down to 24 pupils ahead of final vote on Christmas closure

Ysgol Meidrim is down to 24 pupils, and could close for good on 31 December if councillors back the plan next week.

Six children moved to Ysgol Bancyfelin or Ysgol Griffith Jones in September, according to Carmarthenshire Council. The school had 31 pupils at the end of the summer term.

On Monday the council’s cabinet voted unanimously to recommend closing it, with nobody against and no abstentions.

It also unanimously backed closing Ysgol Y Fro in Llangyndeyrn, which no longer has a single pupil. Full council has the final say on both on Wednesday 14 October.

Speaking in Welsh, local councillor Jean Lewis told cabinet the governing body had “worked tirelessly” to save the school. “For this community, this is not just a matter of closing a building,” she said, through the chamber’s interpreter.

She asked cabinet: “Is it really justified to close a Welsh rural school, which is at the heart of an entire village, for such a small financial saving?”

And she warned: “Once a school like this is closed, there’s no turning back the clock.”

Ysgol Meidrim closure: 151 objections and nine in support

The closure notice in June drew 160 responses: 151 objections and nine in favour.

If the closure goes ahead, pupils would move to Ysgol Hafodwenog or Ysgol Griffith Jones from 1 January 2027, the council says.

Its case rests on numbers and money. The council says the school ended 2025-26 £62,581 in deficit and is forecast to be £123,968 in the red by next March.

It puts the cost per pupil at £6,363, against a county average of £5,479, and says closing the school would save £63,229 a year. The building could sell for around £150,000 if no community group takes it on.

Campaigners say the real saving is far smaller. Cymdeithas yr Iaith puts it at about £13,000 a year once extra transport costs are taken off, and Cllr Lewis told cabinet a lot of the costs “will go with the children to other schools”.

Meidrim governors’ rescue plan: “Closure is irreversible. Collaboration is not”

The school’s governors sent the council a detailed alternative in July, asking for “a defined period” to show it could work before “an irreversible decision” is taken.

Their plan includes a partnership between the council and the community, wider use of the building, childcare, and talks on federating with the Bancyfelin, Llangain and Llansteffan schools.

Their case to councillors came down to six words: “Closure is irreversible. Collaboration is not.”

They also point to new housing along the A40, saying Ysgol Bancyfelin is already at or above capacity and Meidrim’s spare places “may become an important strategic asset”.

Governors note the school came out of Estyn special measures in December 2025. They add that the judicial review earlier this year “did not halt the statutory process” but reinforced that alternatives to closure deserve “genuine and conscientious consideration”.

That legal challenge shaped Monday’s meeting. Education cabinet member Glynog Davies left the chamber for the Meidrim item, telling the meeting he had spoken for the council at the judicial review.

He stood aside on legal advice, and deputy leader Hazel Evans presented the report instead.

The governors’ plan did not change the council’s mind. It says the plan has no projected income and spending, cashflow forecasts or three-to-five-year budgets, and that federation would not fix falling numbers.

The council’s verdict: “No new evidence has been presented that would justify amending the proposal.”

Ysgol Y Fro in Llangyndeyrn has no pupils left

At Ysgol Y Fro, every pupil has applied for and accepted a place at another school, and no new starters are due, the council says.

Its closure notice drew 22 responses, all of them objections. The council ruled out one suggestion, turning it into a Church in Wales school, saying it would not fix pupil numbers, money or leadership.

Ysgol Y Fro ended 2025-26 £107,810 in deficit, according to the council, which says closing it would save £99,522 a year. Pupils would transfer to Ysgol y Dderwen.

Rural school closures in Carmarthenshire: what happens at full council on Wednesday

Both are designated rural schools, so the Welsh Government’s school organisation code presumes against closing them unless the council makes a strong case and has looked at every realistic alternative.

The council says it has done that. The vote comes as the county’s schools head for a £16m deficit that finance chiefs have warned could wipe out the council’s emergency reserve.

Meidrim and Y Fro were two of four rural primaries put under review last year, and campaigners say more are coming.

Cymdeithas yr Iaith says three village schools in the lower Gwendraeth Valley, including Bancffosfelen and Carway, and Ysgol Blaenau near Llandybie face proposals to close at the end of 2027. The council’s education scrutiny committee is due to consider consulting on them on Tuesday morning, the group says.

The group’s Ffred Ffransis said: “By proposing to close four additional village schools even before the Council has made its decision on Meidrim, the Cabinet has shown that it is on a mission to close village schools throughout the county outside the towns and a few large villages.”

Its message to councillors ahead of Wednesday’s vote is stark: “If Meidrim is to close, then 20 other Welsh-medium rural schools in Carmarthenshire are immediately under threat, and that will be the end of our Welsh-speaking rural communities.”

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

SCHOOL CLOSURES: Council confirms village schools in Meidrim and Llangyndeyrn to shut, but campaigners say they will fight on
The closure notices issued in June.

CARMARTHENSHIRE: Schools’ £16m deficit could push council into the red
The county’s schools budget crisis, school by school.

CARWAY: Council weighing village school’s long-term future as £1.8m classrooms stay on hold
Carway’s children are still bussed to Pontyates, with formal proposals promised.

Four Carmarthenshire schools face closure under modernisation plans
Llansteffan, Y Fro, Meidrim and Pontiets put under review last year.

LLANELLI: MP pleads with Plaid government to honour £27m promise for new special school

Llanelli’s MP has urged the new Plaid-led Welsh Government to “honour” a £27m commitment for a long-promised new special school in the town.

Dame Nia Griffith says repeated delays to the £35m Ysgol Heol Goffa project have caused “huge consternation and anxiety” for current pupils, parents and families still waiting for a place.

She has written to Anna Brychan MS, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Welsh Language, calling on her to give “early and full support” by committing to match-funding of 75 per cent for the school.

That figure matters. The usual Welsh Government contribution for a project like this is 65 per cent.

The previous Labour education minister, Lynn Neagle, had confirmed the new school would be eligible for the higher 75 per cent rate — subject to a satisfactory business case.

Dame Nia is now pressing the new Plaid administration to commit to that figure in full, rather than let it slip back to the standard rate.

Her intervention raises the stakes in a funding row that erupted at County Hall last week.

At a full meeting of Carmarthenshire County Council, Labour group leader councillor Deryk Cundy asked whether the authority’s 25 per cent share — roughly £9m — had been “ring-fenced” for the new school.

Plaid’s cabinet member for education, councillor Glynog Davies, replied: “It hasn’t been, well not yet.”

That answer angered Labour councillors, who pointed out that in December councillor Davies had told the same chamber the money “has been ring-fenced”.

“Which version of Glynog Davies’s answers are we, and the school community, to believe?” councillor Cundy said after the meeting.

He accused the administration of “dragging its heels”, asking why a business case would take 15 months when an independent report had already set out that the school needed to be expanded to meet legal requirements.

Lliedi councillor Shaun Greaney, a prominent campaigner for the school, said it was “disgraceful” that councillor Davies was now casting himself as its champion.

He said more than 9,000 people had signed a petition for a new school after what campaigners called Plaid’s “broken promises”, and accused the party of trying to “pull the wool over people’s eyes”.

Councillor Davies has firmly rejected that account. He has accused Labour of causing “unnecessary distress” and misrepresenting the process “for cheap political purposes”, insisting there is “no intention to pull out now”.

He has said the funding depends on a business case that has yet to be completed, and that the council is pressing ahead with plans for a larger school near Ysgol Penrhos.

A formal consultation on the £35m rebuild opened earlier this month, with responses running until 21 July, and the school earmarked to open in 2029.

The Welsh Government has been asked to confirm whether it will commit to the 75 per cent funding rate.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

HEOL GOFFA ROW: Plaid accuses Labour of causing ‘unnecessary distress’ over special school claims
Carmarthenshire’s education cabinet member hit back at Labour’s “£35m black hole” claims, calling them unfounded.

LLANELLI: ‘£35m black hole’ row erupts over Ysgol Heol Goffa funding
A council meeting revealed the money behind the £35m plans is not yet signed off.

LLANELLI: Consultation opens on £35m Ysgol Heol Goffa rebuild
The formal process is under way at last, with responses open until 21 July.

LLANELLI: £35m new Ysgol Heol Goffa to open in 2029 — but funding question hangs over Plaid government
The project cleared a major hurdle, but councillors want Welsh Government funding protected.

HEOL GOFFA ROW: Plaid accuses Labour of causing ‘unnecessary distress’ over special school claims

Plaid Cymru’s education cabinet member has accused Labour councillors in Llanelli of causing “unnecessary alarm and distress” to parents and staff at Ysgol Heol Goffa — escalating the row over funding for the town’s promised £35m special school.

The row erupted after Wednesday’s full council meeting, when Labour claimed a “£35m black hole” sat beneath the plans after Cllr Glynog Davies confirmed funding for the project had not yet been formally committed by either the council or the Welsh Government.

In a statement issued on Friday, Cllr Davies branded the Labour claims “unfounded” — and said the suggestion that the new school may not go ahead was an insinuation made for political ends.

“They obviously don’t understand, or choose to misrepresent the process, for cheap political purposes,” he said.

“Work on designing the larger 150 pupil school on a new site is well advanced, so I can assure parents, staff and learners that there is no intention to pull out now. Changing government in Cardiff has no bearing on this, because government funding depends on presenting the full business case, which will happen shortly.”

The cabinet member reserved his sharpest words for Llanelli Labour town councillor Shaun Greaney — a longstanding campaigner on the school — over what Cllr Davies said was an accusation that Plaid councillors had “an old-fashioned attitude to children with special needs”.

“It’s quite shocking that Cllr Shaun Greaney, who seems to live in a constant state of outrage, should accuse Plaid councillors of having ‘an old-fashioned attitude to children with special needs’,” he said. “Moving ahead with a larger new school, costing tens of millions of pounds, disproves his allegations.”

And he linked Labour’s attacks to the party’s performance in last month’s Senedd election: “I appreciate that Labour must be in trauma after their devastating losses in the Senedd elections, but for them to cause unnecessary distress on this issue is reprehensible.”

Labour’s claims followed the chamber exchange in which Cllr Davies confirmed funding had not yet been signed off. Labour opposition group leader Cllr Deryk Cundy said afterwards: “Clearly, despite all the public fanfares, no money has been actually committed to the new Ysgol Heol Goffa. My biggest fear is that Plaid will claim again — at some point in the future — that it doesn’t have enough money to proceed with the new school, as they have in the past.”

Cllr Greaney had said the school community would be “devastated” if the funding position set out in the chamber was correct — adding: “Personally, I think they are a disgrace and should all resign.”

Under the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning programme, the council would pay a quarter of the cost of the new school with the government contributing 75 per cent — but the government’s share is only confirmed once the council submits a full business case, which Cllr Davies says “will happen shortly”.

The school for pupils with additional learning needs was first promised a replacement building a decade ago. The council scrapped the previous plans in May 2024 citing rising costs — prompting a petition of more than 9,000 signatures — before re-committing in 2025 to a £35m, 150-place school near Ysgol Pen Rhos, with a planned opening of September 2029.

The formal consultation on the proposals is open until Tuesday 21 July.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

LLANELLI: ‘£35m black hole’ row erupts over Ysgol Heol Goffa funding — days after consultation opens
The full council exchange — and what it means for families.

LLANELLI: Consultation opens on £35m Ysgol Heol Goffa rebuild — two years after council scrapped the last one
How to have your say on the proposals.

LLANELLI: £35m new Ysgol Heol Goffa to open in 2029 after years of uncertainty — but funding question hangs over Plaid Cymru government
Our report from May on the school’s long road to approval.

LLANELLI: ‘£35m black hole’ row erupts over Ysgol Heol Goffa funding — days after consultation opens

Parents being asked this month for their views on Llanelli’s promised £35m new special school have been caught in the middle of a political row — after a council meeting revealed the funding behind the project has not yet been signed off.

Labour claims a “£35m black hole” sits beneath the plans for the new Ysgol Heol Goffa after Carmarthenshire’s education cabinet member confirmed at Wednesday’s full council meeting that funding for the project has not yet been formally committed — by either the council or the Plaid Cymru Welsh Government.

Pressed in a supplementary question on the absence of ring-fenced funds for the school in the council’s capital budget, Cllr Glynog Davies told the chamber: “Well no, it hasn’t been confirmed, neither had it been confirmed in the past because that business case had not been presented and approved.

“But as I said, we have an excellent track record. I have confidence in the team of officers that we have in the department and those plans we present I can assure you are robust — and we are moving forward at pace, and once that business case is presented, we will get an affirmative answer I hope.”

In practical terms: the council pays a quarter of the cost and the Welsh Government three-quarters — but the government’s share is only confirmed once the council submits a detailed business case for the project, which has not yet happened. The council says that is the normal sequence and its track record of winning approval is strong; Labour’s fear is that “not yet confirmed” becomes “not affordable”, as it did when the last version of this school was scrapped in 2024.

On Friday — two days after the chamber exchange — Cllr Davies went further, issuing a statement branding Labour’s claims “unfounded” and giving parents a direct assurance that the school will be built.

“Work on designing the larger 150 pupil school on a new site is well advanced, so I can assure parents, staff and learners that there is no intention to pull out now,” he said. “Changing government in Cardiff has no bearing on this, because government funding depends on presenting the full business case, which will happen shortly.”

He accused Labour councillors of misrepresenting the process “for cheap political purposes” — saying it was “reprehensible” for them “to cause unnecessary distress on this issue”.

The school for pupils with additional learning needs has had a turbulent decade. A replacement for the ageing building was first pledged ten years ago — before the council scrapped the plans in May 2024 citing rising costs, prompting a campaign by parents, unions and town councillors that gathered a petition of more than 9,000 signatures.

The council re-committed in June 2025, and a month later approved a £35m, 150-place school near Ysgol Pen Rhos, with a planned opening of September 2029 — though a question mark over the funding followed the new Plaid Cymru Welsh Government into office. The formal consultation on the project opened this week.

The funding question was raised at Wednesday’s meeting first by Cllr Rob James — the council’s former Labour group leader, who defected to the Greens and stood for the party in May’s Senedd election — before Labour opposition group leader Cllr Deryk Cundy pressed the administration on whether the Welsh Government would guarantee the 75 per cent contribution towards the build that he said had previously been allocated.

Answering in Welsh through the chamber’s simultaneous translation service, Cllr Davies said the council was working closely with the Welsh Government through its Sustainable Communities for Learning programme — and that the government had approved the council’s strategic outline programme in summer 2024, which included a project for additional learning needs in Llanelli, with Heol Goffa “viewed as part of that review”.

“Every project is subject to an individual business case approval,” he said. “We as a county have a very good track record for these schemes that we present. With special schools, as in this case, a 75 per cent contribution from the government — but this is dependent on the final business case. We haven’t got to that stage yet.”

Switching to English, he added: “And I have to correct you, Deryk — the former Labour government had not given the guaranteed allocation to the previous Heol Goffa project. But we will continue to work constructively with Welsh Government as we have done in the past to present a strong and robust case for investment.”

Earlier in the meeting, responding to Cllr James, the cabinet member said the council had invested £500,000 in the school in summer 2024 on top of its delegated budget, that pupil numbers remained “within an appropriate capacity” — and that the school “is not currently considered to be overcrowded”.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Cundy said there had been “written confirmation of a 75% top up from the previous Labour Welsh Government, awaiting the request for funds, which was never received from the County Council” — and that since the change of government in Cardiff, “this has not been ratified”. Cllr Davies had rejected the premise in the chamber, telling him the former Labour government “had not given the guaranteed allocation” to the previous project.

“Clearly, despite all the public fanfares, no money has been actually committed to the new Ysgol Heol Goffa,” Cllr Cundy said. “My biggest fear is that Plaid will claim again — at some point in the future — that it doesn’t have enough money to proceed with the new school, as they have in the past.”

Llanelli Labour town councillor and longstanding campaigner Shaun Greaney said the school community would be “devastated” if the funding position set out in the chamber was correct.

“How can they treat the Ysgol Heol Goffa community in such an awful way yet again?” he said. “Don’t they believe Ysgol Heol Goffa pupils deserve equality? Personally, I think they are a disgrace and should all resign.”

Labour county councillor Martyn Palfreman said pupils, parents and staff had been “badly let down”, accusing the Plaid-led council of “putting Llanelli last”.

But a markedly different account emerged from a briefing held for parents and governors on the same morning as the council meeting — attended by Reform UK county councillor Michelle Beer.

Cllr Beer said the session with the council’s director of education Owain Lloyd had been “positive and constructive”, with initial visual designs for the new school shared and “reassurance provided on a number of key issues” — and encouraged families to take part in the consultation.

The exchange comes amid wider pressure over provision at the school — with Llanelli Town Council recently backing calls for a dedicated school nurse, an issue that earlier this year drew the intervention of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales.

For families, the practical reality is this: the consultation is genuine and open until Tuesday 21 July, the designs exist, the cabinet member says there is “no intention to pull out now” — but the money that builds it rides on a business case that is yet to be written, and the date every parent is holding onto is September 2029. Have your say on the proposals here.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

LLANELLI: £35m new Ysgol Heol Goffa to open in 2029 after years of uncertainty — but funding question hangs over Plaid Cymru government
Our report from May — when the funding question first followed the new government into office.

LLANELLI: Consultation opens on £35m Ysgol Heol Goffa rebuild — two years after council scrapped the last one
The consultation now open to families — and how to take part.

LLANELLI: Town councillors to vote on motion demanding dedicated nurse for special school
The campaign for a dedicated nurse at Ysgol Heol Goffa.

CHILDREN’S COMMISSIONER STEPS IN: Watchdog demands meeting with health board over special school nurse crisis
When the watchdog intervened over the school’s nurse provision earlier this year.

AMMANFORD: County’s only nursery school to close — taking Carmarthenshire’s last full-time nursery places with it

Carmarthenshire’s only council-run nursery school is to close, after county councillors approved a shake-up of early years education in Ammanford.

Full council agreed on Wednesday to discontinue Ammanford Nursery School and extend the age range at Ysgol Bro Banw and Ysgol Gymraeg Rhydaman from 4-11 to 3-11, allowing both schools to take children from age three.

The change ends something unique in the county: the nursery school was Carmarthenshire’s only setting offering full-time nursery education, and under the plans children will instead receive part-time provision at the two primary schools.

All children in Wales are entitled to a minimum of 10 hours of nursery education a week from the term after their third birthday — which is what the two schools will now provide.

Around 81 children aged three to five were on the nursery school’s roll when the closure was first proposed last summer.

The school was set up by the former Dyfed County Council, alongside nursery schools in Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion — and its most recent Estyn inspection, published in January, did not place it in any follow-up category.

The nursery occupies a wing of the larger Ysgol Bro Banw building and sits less than a minute’s walk from Ysgol Gymraeg Rhydaman — a point the council has used to argue children will not have far to go.

Cllr Glynog Davies, cabinet member for education, said the decision would “modernise education provision in Ammanford, enabling pupils to attend Ysgol Bro Banw and Ysgol Gymraeg Rhydaman from three years of age”.

“This will allow Carmarthenshire County Council to deliver a more balanced education provision in Ammanford, in line with other schools across Carmarthenshire,” he said.

The plan has not been without concern. When the proposal went before a scrutiny committee last June, Cllr Betsan Jones — a governor of the nursery school who lives in the area — said it worried parents and staff, though she understood the council’s reasoning.

The committee heard the schools’ headteachers and governing bodies were supportive in the main, and Cllr Davies promised the consultation process would be “very thorough”.

The change is tied to the council’s decision in March 2024 to scrap its “Rising 4s” policy, under which children started school full-time at the start of the year they turned four. Since September, children instead start the term after their fourth birthday.

The council’s own consultation document acknowledged that change means children stay in nursery and childcare settings for a term longer than before — potentially increasing demand for early years places even as the county’s only dedicated nursery school closes.

The Ammanford changes are part of a wider reshaping of early years provision, with the council also having proposed extending the age range to 3-11 at four other primary schools — Ysgol Cwrt Henri, Ysgol Llanybydder, Ysgol Y Tymbl and Ysgol Y Ddwylan — as it grapples with declining pupil numbers across the county.

Discussing those plans last year, Cllr Davies admitted there was no guarantee parents would take up the new places, saying: “Sometimes you have to take a gamble and hope that it will prove its worth.”

The decision also lands while a bigger question about education in the town remains unanswered.

The council bought land in Ammanford for a new school back in 2023, with Welsh-medium provision described as a priority — but there has been no public update on when, or whether, it will be built, prompting Green Party councillor Rob James to demand answers earlier this year.

Ammanford Nursery School also runs a breakfast club each morning — the council says both Ysgol Bro Banw and Ysgol Gymraeg Rhydaman offer breakfast clubs and after-school provision.

When the plans went before councillors last year, implementation was planned for September 2026 — though Wednesday’s announcement did not confirm the date the nursery school will close its doors.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

AMMANFORD: Questions raised over future of school land as council stays silent
The council bought land for a new school in 2023 — but has gone quiet on when it will be built.

LLANELLI: Consultation opens on £35m Ysgol Heol Goffa rebuild — two years after council scrapped the last one
The county’s other big education decision this week — a special school saga reaches formal consultation.

LLANELLI: £35m new Ysgol Heol Goffa to open in 2029 after years of uncertainty
Scrutiny councillors unanimously backed the special school scheme — with a funding question for the new Plaid Cymru government.

LLANELLI: Consultation opens on £35m Ysgol Heol Goffa rebuild — two years after council scrapped the last one

A formal consultation has opened on plans to build a new £35m Ysgol Heol Goffa in Llanelli — giving families their first official say on a project that has taken years of protest and political pressure to reach this point.

Carmarthenshire Council is proposing to relocate the special school to a new site and increase its capacity to 150, with the new building due to open in September 2029.

Parents, staff, pupils, governors and the wider community have until Tuesday 21 July to respond, after the council’s cabinet agreed to launch the consultation at its meeting on 1 June.

Ysgol Heol Goffa is the only standalone special school in Carmarthenshire, teaching children and young people aged three to 19 with severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties from across the whole county.

The consultation document lays bare the pressure on the current building: the school has 132 pupils against a capacity of 118 — and has been over capacity every year for the past five years.

Inspection body Estyn found in November 2025 that several areas of the school were no longer fit for purpose, with classrooms too small for pupils to move around — particularly wheelchair users — and outdated facilities.

The new school would be built on council-owned land next to the recently completed Ysgol Pen Rhos, around three miles from the current site — the same location earmarked for the scheme the council abandoned — with pupils also able to use the hydrotherapy pool at the neighbouring Pentre Awel development.

The £35m cost would be split 75/25 between the Welsh Government and the council — though the Welsh Government share remains subject to full business case approval, a question Labour councillors raised last month as Plaid Cymru formed its new government in Cardiff Bay.

The consultation also reveals the council considered — and rejected — a larger 250-place school that would have covered autism provision as well, discounted “due to budget constraints”.

That decision may raise eyebrows among campaigners who last year condemned an “appalling scandal” over autism provision in the town. The council is separately investing £4m in a new autism unit at Ysgol Glan-y-Mor in Burry Port.

Today’s consultation marks a remarkable turnaround in a saga that began when the council scrapped the original 120-place replacement scheme in 2024 after costs escalated.

That decision sparked anger across Llanelli, with MP Dame Nia Griffith branding it the “wrong choice” and a 5,000-name petition demanding a U-turn handed in to County Hall.

Under sustained pressure from parents, campaigners and opposition councillors, the council eventually agreed to press ahead with a new, larger scheme — 30 places bigger than the one it had axed, and on the very same site.

The school has also faced a separate crisis over nursing provision, which drew the intervention of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales earlier this year.

Cllr Glynog Davies, cabinet member for education, said the consultation was “the next step towards Carmarthenshire County Council’s delivery of a new 150 pupil Heol Goffa school”.

“We are asking the school community to have their say on these proposals and help to shape the development of an increased education provision for pupils with severe learning difficulties and profound learning difficulties in the Llanelli area,” he said.

The consultation document notes Estyn’s recommendations for the school include addressing concerns identified in a safeguarding letter, alongside strengthening quality assurance systems.

If the proposal proceeds, a statutory notice is expected this winter, with a final decision in March 2027. The existing Heol Goffa site would be declared redundant, with the community given first refusal before it goes on the open market.

Responses can be submitted via the council’s online survey, by email to [email protected], or in writing to Owain Lloyd, Director of Education and Leisure, County Hall, Castle Hill, Carmarthen, SA31 1JP.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

LLANELLI: £35m new Ysgol Heol Goffa to open in 2029 after years of uncertainty
Scrutiny councillors unanimously backed the scheme last month — with a funding question for the new Plaid Cymru government.

‘Lives may be at risk’: Watchdog probe demanded over Llanelli special school nurse crisis
The separate staffing crisis that raised serious safety concerns at the existing school.

Concerns raised over future of Heol Goffa special school amid Reform UK surge and council delays
A Llanelli councillor’s warning that delays were eroding trust in the project.

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The moment a ‘definitive proposal’ was promised — as parents demanded action.

SCHOOL CLOSURES: Council confirms village schools in Meidrim and Llangyndeyrn to shut — but campaigners say they will fight on

Carmarthenshire County Council has confirmed it intends to close two more village schools, issuing the formal notices needed to shut them.

The council’s cabinet has agreed to issue statutory notices to discontinue Ysgol Meidrim and Ysgol Y Fro at Llangyndeyrn, with the notice period beginning in June.

The move had been widely expected. Both schools were placed under review last year and have been through a months-long consultation, but the decision marks the point at which the council formally commits to closing them, subject to any objections.

The consultation ran from 16 January to 2 March this year, taking in pupils, teachers, parents, governors and the wider community at both schools.

Both schools were identified for possible closure under the council’s Modernising Education Programme, signed off by cabinet in November 2024.

The council points to extremely low pupil numbers, high numbers of empty places, and budgets it says are unsustainable as the reasons for acting.

It also notes that many children living within each school’s catchment already attend other schools, and that pupil projections show little sign of numbers recovering.

Cllr Glynog Davies, the council’s cabinet member for education, said the decision had not been taken lightly.

“Today’s difficult decision to issue statutory notices to discontinue both Ysgol Meidrim and Ysgol Y Fro has not been taken lightly,” he said.

“However, significant financial pressures and low pupil numbers with a high surplus of places in both schools has forced cabinet to come to this conclusion.”

Both schools have faced wider scrutiny. Ysgol Y Fro, which had around 15 pupils, and Ysgol Meidrim, with about 31, were each placed in Special Measures by education watchdog Estyn.

The two schools were among four rural primaries put under review last year under the modernisation programme, alongside Ysgol Llansteffan and Ysgol Pontyates.

Ysgol Llansteffan has since been earmarked for closure through its own statutory notice, while Pontyates was kept out of the immediate process — though campaigners there have vowed their fight is not over.

The latest decision has drawn an immediate response from Welsh language campaign group Cymdeithas yr Iaith, which said it was surprised by the move.

The group argued the closures would undermine the new Welsh Government’s commitment to building rural resilience, and said an opportunity had been missed at Meidrim to work with governors on a plan to build a community hub alongside the school.

In the case of Ysgol Y Fro, Cymdeithas said the closure would again reduce capacity for Welsh-medium education in the Carmarthen area, which it warned could push families towards English-language schooling.

Ffred Ffransis, speaking for the group in the Carmarthen region, said Cymdeithas would work with the governors of both schools to gather objections to the statutory notices before final decisions are taken in the autumn, and called on the Welsh Government to intervene.

As campaigners signalled when the consultation was launched, Cymdeithas has questioned the way the council handled the earliest stage of the process.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Welsh language campaigners prepare to fight ‘flawed’ Carmarthenshire school closures
Cymdeithas yr Iaith vowed to oppose the closures, criticising the council’s handling of the early consultation stage.

Four Carmarthenshire schools face closure under modernisation plans
The county’s Modernising Education Programme put four rural primaries under review over falling rolls and surplus places.

Rural schools under threat as council defends tough decisions
Carmarthenshire communities raised concerns over what campaigners called piecemeal closures.

LLANELLI: £35m new Ysgol Heol Goffa to open in 2029 after years of uncertainty — but funding question hangs over Plaid Cymru government

Plans for a long-awaited new Ysgol Heol Goffa have moved forward after Carmarthenshire Council’s education scrutiny committee unanimously recommended they should proceed — with the school now expected to open in September 2029 if all goes to plan.

The new school will be located near Ysgol Pen Rhos, almost four miles from the current oversubscribed Heol Goffa site, and will cater for 150 pupils aged three to 19 with severe learning difficulties or profound and multiple learning difficulties. That is 30 more places than the original 120-pupil scheme that the council scrapped in 2024 on cost grounds — a decision that sparked widespread anger and protests in Llanelli.

The £35 million price tag would be split between the Welsh Government, contributing 75%, and Carmarthenshire Council paying the remaining 25%. At Tuesday’s meeting, Labour councillor Martyn Palfreman asked for assurances that the Welsh Government’s 75% contribution would be protected given that a new administration — led by Plaid Cymru — was now being formed in Cardiff Bay.

Cabinet member for education Cllr Glynog Davies responded: “I’m confident that we will get that funding.”

Cllr Palfreman, however, said the funding question was not one to be taken lightly. Writing on social media after the meeting, he said any threat to that funding would be “unforgivable” — pointing out that pupils and parents had already suffered due to what he described as Plaid Cymru’s abandonment of its original plans and commitments on the matter in 2024.

The original plans for a new Ysgol Heol Goffa were scrapped by the council in 2024 after costs escalated, before new plans were subsequently agreed following pressure from Labour councillors and community campaigners.

The school has also faced a separate crisis over nursing provision, with calls for a watchdog investigation after concerns were raised that lives could be at risk.

The new school is currently oversubscribed — it has 132 pupils despite a capacity of just 118. Inspection body Estyn has found that several parts of the existing school are no longer fit for purpose and that facilities are outdated.

A report before the committee said the new building would “provide 21st Century facilities to meet the needs of children with more complex needs and profound additional learning needs”, including better post-16 provision for life skills and vocational learning, and improved play provision on the new site.

The new school would use the hydrotherapy pool at the nearby Pentre Awel health and leisure development — a significant benefit given the specialist needs of many of its pupils.

Cllr Davies described the preferred option as “excellent and fully costed”, adding: “It’s bigger, better, modern and future-proofed.” He acknowledged it had been a “long and very complicated process.”

Twenty sites were considered before the location near Ysgol Pen Rhos was selected as the most appropriate. Director of education Owain Lloyd said its proximity to Pentre Awel was a key factor.

Cllr Kim Broom summed up the sentiment in the chamber: “The parents, they want a new school, and the children deserve that.”

Carmarthenshire Council is also investing £4 million in a new autism unit at Ysgol Glan-y-Mor in Burry Port, due to open by September 2027.

Following the scrutiny committee’s unanimous recommendation, a decision will be taken by cabinet. The subsequent process includes a public consultation, a statutory notice, an objection report and a final decision by full council — currently scheduled for March next year.

Our Ysgol Heol Goffa coverage

New school plans for Ysgol Heol Goffa move forward after years of uncertainty
How the council agreed to press ahead after the original plans were scrapped.

Council faces critical decision on future of Llanelli’s special school
The moment the original rebuild plans collapsed and the community’s reaction.

‘Lives may be at risk’: Watchdog probe demanded over Llanelli special school nurse crisis
The separate staffing crisis that raised serious safety concerns at the existing school.

Campaigners condemn ‘appalling scandal’ over autism provision in Llanelli
Community anger over the wider state of additional learning needs provision in the town.

Statutory closure notice issued for Ysgol Llansteffan

The notice, issued on Tuesday 25 November, sets out plans to discontinue the Welsh‑medium primary school from 31 August 2026. If approved, pupils would transfer to Ysgol Llangain, which the council says has sufficient capacity to absorb the catchment without additional measures. School transport and secondary transfer arrangements would remain unchanged.

The decision to issue the notice was agreed by the council’s Cabinet on 17 November, following viability assessments under the Modernising Education Programme approved last year.

Council says closure plan is difficult but invites objections

Cabinet Member for Education, Cllr Glynog Davies, said:

“We appreciate how difficult this situation is for those connected with Ysgol Llansteffan, and we wholeheartedly sympathise with the parents, staff, governors and local community. We encourage anyone with views on the proposal to submit them during the objection period so they can be fully considered before any final decision is made.”

Objections can be submitted until 23 December via the council’s online survey, by email to [email protected], or in writing to the Director of Education and Leisure at County Hall, Carmarthen.

Parents and campaigners rally to defend village school

Local campaigners have already begun mobilising. Llansteffan and Llanybri Community Council confirmed on social media that Ysgol Llansteffan’s PTA will hold a community meeting to help residents prepare objections, with details to be announced.

The PTA has also shared a GoFundMe appeal launched by parent Charlotte Grice, titled Save Ysgol Llansteffan – Legal Challenge Fund. The fundraiser aims to secure specialist education law support to challenge the closure proposal.

Grice writes that time is critical, with the statutory objection period ending on 23 December:

“Every donation — no matter how small or how large — will mean more than you can ever imagine. Your help could make the difference between losing our school forever or giving our children the future they deserve.”

The campaign argues that outdated pupil data, contradictions over capacity at Ysgol Llangain, and concerns about Welsh‑medium provision and Additional Learning Needs have undermined the closure case. Funds raised would go directly towards solicitor fees, reviewing the proposal, preparing legal documents, and any steps needed to challenge the closure lawfully.

Supporters describe Ysgol Llansteffan as “the beating heart of our village” and stress its role in sustaining the Welsh language locally. The school’s coastal and woodland setting is highlighted as central to its curriculum, while parents say its small size provides a sanctuary for children who struggle in larger environments.

The GoFundMe appeal concludes:

“Once a school like ours is gone, it is gone forever — and it will never return. Closing it would tear out a part of Llansteffan’s soul and rob future generations of what we still have the chance to protect today.”

Closure part of wider modernisation programme criticised by campaigners

Ysgol Llansteffan is one of several Carmarthenshire schools identified for closure under the council’s Modernising Education Programme. Campaigners have previously criticised the process, arguing that closures risk undermining Welsh‑medium provision and rural community life.

The statutory notice marks the final stage of the process, with objections and legal challenges to be considered before a final decision is made.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Welsh language campaigners prepare to fight flawed Carmarthenshire school closures
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Four Carmarthenshire schools face closure under modernisation plans

Carmarthenshire County Council’s Education, Young People and the Welsh Language Scrutiny Committee will meet on Tuesday (14 October) to examine proposals affecting Ysgol Llansteffan, Ysgol Y Fro, Ysgol Meidrim and Ysgol Pontiets.

The reports, published ahead of the meeting, recommend issuing a Statutory Notice to close Ysgol Llansteffan from August 2026, while launching formal consultations on the future of Ysgol Y Fro, Ysgol Meidrim and Ysgol Pontiets.

Schools identified as “no longer viable”

Council officers say the four schools have been assessed against viability criteria including pupil numbers, budget position and educational standards. Ysgol Llansteffan, for example, has just eight pupils on roll, with projections showing only 18 by 2030. Its cost per pupil is more than three times the county average.

Ysgol Y Fro in Llangyndeyrn currently has 15 pupils and was placed in Special Measures by Estyn earlier this year. Ysgol Meidrim, with 31 pupils, is also in Special Measures following an inspection in 2024. Meanwhile Ysgol Pontiets has 24 pupils and more than 70% surplus places, with projections showing numbers continuing to fall.

The council argues that such small cohorts mean pupils are taught in mixed‑age classes, making delivery of the new Curriculum for Wales increasingly difficult.

At a glance: the four schools under review

Ysgol Llansteffan
8 pupils on roll (PLASC 2025). Estyn: No follow‑up (2024). Proposed closure August 2026, with pupils transferring to Ysgol Llangain.

Ysgol Y Fro, Llangyndeyrn
15 pupils on roll. Estyn: Special Measures (Feb 2025). Consultation on closure, with Ysgol Y Dderwen identified as receiving school.

Ysgol Meidrim
31 pupils on roll. Estyn: Special Measures (Apr 2024). Consultation on closure, with Ysgol Griffith Jones identified as receiving school.

Ysgol Pontiets
24 pupils on roll. Estyn: Not in follow‑up. Consultation on closure, with Ysgol Pum Heol identified as receiving school.

Financial pressures and surplus places

The reports warn that the schools are running unsustainable budgets, with deficits forecast to rise. In some cases, the per‑pupil funding is more than double the county average.

Closing the four schools could save the authority more than £340,000 a year in revenue costs, while the sale of redundant buildings could generate up to £695,000 in capital receipts if no community use is found.

Cllr Glynog Davies, cabinet member for education, said the strategy aimed to ensure a sustainable and balanced provision of education throughout the county.

“These proposals will help to address the challenging circumstances faced by individual schools and the wider school system, which includes schools operating with pupil numbers far below their intended capacity and unsustainable financial situations,” he said.

Local concerns

Cllr Tyssul Evans, whose Llangyndeyrn ward includes Ysgol Y Fro, acknowledged the emotional impact of the proposals.

“Sadly we are as a local authority dependent on funding from central Government and there have been cutbacks. And unfortunately the number of pupils in these schools has fallen drastically over the years.

We are faced with reality. We have to take steps. We have got to live within our means. It is sad, of course it is.”

Previous closures put on hold

This is not the first time Carmarthenshire has faced controversy over school closures. In December 2021, as Swansea Bay News previously reported, plans to shut Ysgol Mynyddygarreg and Ysgol Blaenau were put on hold after an extended review of the Modernising Education Programme. At the time, campaigners celebrated a reprieve, but councillors warned that viability reviews would continue across the county.

What happens next

If scrutiny members back the recommendations, the proposals will go before Cabinet on 17 November 2025. Ysgol Llansteffan would move directly to a Statutory Notice of closure from August 2026, with pupils expected to transfer to Ysgol Llangain. Ysgol Y Fro would enter consultation, with Ysgol Y Dderwen identified as the preferred receiving school. Ysgol Meidrim would also enter consultation, with Ysgol Griffith Jones as the preferred receiving school. Ysgol Pontiets would follow the same process, with Ysgol Pum Heol identified as the likely destination.

Parents would still retain the right to apply for places at other nearby schools under the council’s admissions policy.

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#Carmarthenshire #CarmarthenshireCouncil #CllrGlynogDavies #CllrTyssulEvans #education #Estyn #featured #Llangyndeyrn #Llansteffan #Meidrim #Pontyates #ruralCommunities #schoolClosure #smallSchools #specialMeasures #YoungPeopleAndTheWelshLanguageScrutinyCommittee #YsgolLlansteffan #YsgolMeidrim #YsgolPontiets #YsgolYFro

Heol Goffa rebuild: Council faces critical decision on future of Llanelli’s special school

Carmarthenshire Council is preparing to vote on the future of Ysgol Heol Goffa — a school built for fewer than 100 pupils, now stretched to accommodate nearly 150 children with complex learning needs. The cabinet’s decision, due on 31 July, will determine whether the town gets a fast-tracked rebuild or a larger, more expensive consolidated site.

Two options remain. Option 4 proposes a new 150-place school with additional Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) centres attached to mainstream campuses. Option 5 would create a single 250-place school combining all specialist provision on one site.

Governors, staff and campaigners have rallied behind Option 4, citing speed, flexibility and the urgent need to relieve overcrowding. The current building has been flagged for leaking roofs, cramped corridors and limited space for mobility aids — conditions that may breach disability standards.

Independent reviewer David Davies recommended Option 4 after assessing six models, noting it would allow the council to meet its statutory duties under the Additional Learning Needs and Educational Tribunal Act (2018).

Political support for Option 4 has grown steadily. Plaid Cymru’s Education Cabinet Member Cllr Glynog Davies confirmed he will recommend it to cabinet, saying: “A new and enlarged Heol Goffa can be delivered in a shorter timescale than the alternative. What’s being proposed now will be a much better outcome for pupils, parents and staff.”

Independent Cllr Rob James, formerly Labour’s group leader, added: “Option 5 appears to reset the clock and delay the benefits a new school will deliver, while a new 150-pupil school could be built quickly. I call on the council to get the shovel in the ground as soon as possible.”

Reform UK’s Cllr Michelle Beer, elected in 2024, also backs Option 4: “It is a matter of urgency that the children, parents, and staff get the much-needed new facilities they deserve. The children and parents have waited patiently for a long time.”

But Labour Cllr Shaun Greaney has taken a more combative stance — not against Option 4 itself, but against the political handling of the rebuild. He warned that Reform UK’s growing influence could jeopardise the Welsh Government’s 75% capital funding offer, and accused Plaid Cymru of dragging their heels. “Reform have no policies for Wales, and no answers,” he said. “They have some very right-wing candidates and we know the right wing are no friends of children with special needs.”

Greaney also criticised the council’s refusal to meet with the Ysgol Heol Goffa Action Group, which submitted a petition with over 9,000 signatures. “The current school is substandard and past its sell-by date. That is fact, no matter how they try to spin the story,” he said. “Now here we are, eight years down the line, and despite the political grandstanding by the party in power in Carmarthenshire, Ysgol Heol Goffa’s children, parents and staff are still waiting for action.”

Campaigners say the building is no longer fit for purpose, citing inadequate toilet facilities, narrow doorways and a leaking roof. “Despite the county council having spent around £500,000 on the existing school building, there are still problems. It’s a dangerous situation,” said action group member Becki Davies. Chair Hannah Coles added: “Our school’s families and children can’t afford to wait any longer.”

If approved, Option 4 could see construction begin quickly — a relief for families who’ve waited years for change. For Llanelli’s disabled pupils, this isn’t just a building project. It’s a chance to learn, grow and thrive in a space designed for their needs.

Related stories on Heol Goffa and Carmarthenshire politics

Concerns raised over future of Heol Goffa special school
Councillor criticism, political tensions, and the call for swift action on the rebuild. Read more »

Council explores alternative plans for Heol Goffa replacement
Following the original scheme’s cancellation, Carmarthenshire Council looks to new build options. Read more »

Petition demands new school for Heol Goffa pupils
Campaigners deliver thousands of signatures urging the council to prioritise special school investment. Read more »

Reform surge shakes Carmarthenshire political landscape
A look at Reform UK’s rising influence and what it means for local council dynamics. Read more »

Polling shows Reform reshaping South West Wales politics
New data suggests a shift in voter sentiment as Reform gains ground against traditional parties. Read more »

#additionalLearningNeeds #ALN #ASC #Autism #AutisticSpectrumCondition #CarmarthenshireCouncil #CllrGlynogDavies #CllrRobJames #CllrShaunGreaney #disabledChildren #HeolGoffa #HeolGoffaActionCommittee #Llanelli #MichelleBeer #specialSchool #YsgolHeolGoffa

Decision on new Heol Goffa school expected this month

A long-awaited decision on a new special school for Llanelli could finally be made this month, with Carmarthenshire Council’s cabinet member for education, Cllr Glynog Davies, confirming he intends to bring forward a “definitive proposal” at a cabinet meeting on July 31.

The announcement follows years of uncertainty surrounding the future of Ysgol Heol Goffa, which serves pupils with additional learning needs and has long been described as overcrowded and unfit for purpose. Plans for a replacement school were first agreed in 2017 but were shelved last year due to rising costs — sparking protests, petitions and widespread community backlash.

Two options on the table

Following an independent review of specialist education in the Llanelli area, the council is now considering two revised options:

• A 150-place school, alongside specialist centres for pupils with autistic spectrum conditions attached to mainstream schools
• A 250-place standalone school, which would include provision for autistic pupils — and is the preferred option of Ysgol Heol Goffa’s governors and campaigners

Cost estimates range from £36.2 million to £58.1 million, with the Welsh Government expected to fund the majority of the capital investment.

Cllr Davies told full council on July 23 that “a lot of work” had now been done and that the proposal was “imminent” — though opposition councillors and parents say they’re still waiting for firm answers.

Political tensions and community frustration

Labour opposition leader Cllr Deryk Cundy pressed Cllr Davies for a clear timeline, saying parents deserved peace of mind after eight years of delays. Cllr Davies responded that the matter had to go before cabinet and reiterated his intention to make a formal proposal on July 31.

The exchange has reignited political tensions, with Plaid Cymru councillor Terry Davies accusing Labour of “generating headlines” rather than seeking genuine answers. In a Facebook post, he said:

“The announcement on Ysgol Heol Goffa has already been agreed with the school and its governors… If we’d pursued Labour’s previous proposal, the new school would already be facing serious capacity issues on opening day.”

But parents say the issue is far more urgent than party politics. Becki Gilroy, whose child attends Heol Goffa, responded:

“How dare you try and turn this around to the narrative that ‘Plaid are heroes for not building the original school as it was too small’. That’s a total insult to our intelligence. It was obvious from the start that the original plans didn’t meet current or future demand — but at least they would have provided a safe, accessible building. Right now, we’ve got water coming through the ceiling and doorways too narrow for wheelchairs.

Let’s be clear: the reason the council pulled the plug wasn’t capacity — it was cost. And now, after years of delay, we’re being told to wait even longer while they rework the plans. Meanwhile, children are stuck on waiting lists, denied the education they’re entitled to.

The David Davies review makes it crystal clear — unless a suitable school is built promptly, CCC is breaching its legal duties under the Equality Act. That includes failing to provide reasonable adjustments and accessible facilities for disabled pupils. This isn’t just a moral failure — it’s potentially unlawful discrimination.

And before anyone tries to politicise this, I’m not Plaid or Labour. I’m a parent of a disabled child who’s sick to the back teeth of being fobbed off. Our children deserve better — and the council needs to act before it’s too late.”

Campaigners demand action

The Ysgol Heol Goffa Action Committee, which has led protests and gathered thousands of petition signatures, says time is running out. In a statement earlier this year, the group wrote:

“Time is of the essence here; parents do not want to be waiting another five years plus for the new school. We agree that the school can be delivered in a more cost-effective manner, while also increasing pupil capacity to address the ever-growing need.”

The group has consistently backed the 250-place option, arguing that anything smaller would be outdated before it opens.

What happens next?

Cllr Davies is expected to present his proposal at the July 31 cabinet meeting, where councillors will review feasibility work and costings. If approved, the new school would replace the current Heol Goffa site, which has been described in council reports as “not fit for purpose” and facing significant accessibility and maintenance issues.

Related stories on Heol Goffa and specialist education in Llanelli

Concerns raised over future of Heol Goffa special school amid Reform UK surge and council delays
Published June 2024: Campaigners say political uncertainty and missed deadlines are putting disabled pupils at risk, as calls grow for urgent action on a new school.

Education cabinet member to propose new-build additional learning needs school
Published July 2024: Cllr Glynog Davies confirms plans to bring forward a new proposal for Heol Goffa, following feasibility work and community consultation.

Council says it’s looking at alternative scheme after axing Heol Goffa replacement school
Published March 2024: Carmarthenshire Council outlines new options after scrapping the previously approved school build due to rising costs.

MP says council decision to scrap new Heol Goffa school plans ‘wrong choice’
Published February 2024: Llanelli MP Dame Nia Griffith criticises the council’s decision to halt the new school project, calling it a setback for disabled children and their families.

#additionalLearningNeeds #additionalLearningNeedsProvisionWales #AdditionalLearningNeedsSchool #ALN #CarmarthenshireCouncil #CllrDerykCundy #CllrGlynogDavies #CllrTerryDavies #HeolGoffa #HeolGoffaActionCommittee #Llanelli #newSchool #PlaidCymru #specialSchool #WelshLabour #YsgolHeolGoffa

Llanelli Leisure Centre could become new home for Ysgol Dewi Sant

Once completed, the council’s new Pentre Awel development at Delta Lakes will house brand new leisure centre facilities.

The council are now debating the use of the current Llanelli leisure centre site, with education chiefs suggesting that it is used as a location for a new Ysgol Dewi Sant.

Council officers will now assess the site to see if it is suitable for a new school, and put forward an outline planning application.

Councillor Glynog Davies, the council’s cabinet member for education and Welsh language said: “The outcome of the outline planning will inform the possibility of locating the replacement school building for Ysgol Gymraeg Dewi Sant on the Llanelli Leisure Centre site,” 

Original £9.1m plans to relocate Ysgol Dewi Sant to recreational land in the Llanerch area of Llanelli was put on hold in 2018 before finally being shelved in 2020 following local resident’s concerns.

Chairman of Ysgol Dewi Sant’s governing body, Michael Bassett said: “We have trusted the process set by the authority of earmarking a suitable site and are pleased to hear that the authority is investigating a particular site in the hope that it will offer our school a suitable new home.

“A recent report by Estyn inspectors states that teaching standards at the school are of the highest standard, and I would like to thank all the school staff and pupils for their patience and excellent work. We very much hope that these early investigations will enable the school to develop and promote the Welsh language in the town.”

Rob James, an Independent Llanelli Councillor who represents the Lliedi ward who attended Ysgol Dewi Sant as a child, said he and the late Cllr Anthony Leyshon, who had also attended the school, had met council officers to press the case for a new site for Ysgol Dewi Sant over a period of years.

Cllr Rob James said: “We can finally announce that Carmarthenshire Council will soon commence investigative work on the suitability of using the current Llanelli Leisure Centre for the new Ysgol Gymraeg Dewi Sant.

“Cllr Anthony Leyshon and I discussed the need for a new site to be identified for the school over the last few years with senior council officers and it is fantastic that investigative works will soon begin.

“There are a number of challenges and opportunities in using the current leisure site for the school and I am eager to hear from pupils, teachings staff, parents and residents on this proposal.”

Concerns have already been raised around the suitability of the site to accommodate the anticipated additional school traffic on Park Crescent and Old Castle Road, as well as the need to segregate traffic and parking for the adjacent Selwyn Samuel Centre.

Campaigners have also raised the need to find a new location for Heol Goffa special school, and how this is a more pressing need than relocating Ysgol Dewi Sant.

Writing on social media, Richard Joseph Young said: “Why not use it for Heol Goffa school. Ramps, lifts, pools to use for hydrotherapy. Parking and parks near. Come on use your small brain. After 10 years of lies for Heol Goffa school, you owe it to these children and their parents.”

Carol West added: “You do have the Selwyn Samuel there with constant traffic. And access isn’t good. Cars park everywhere when picking up. Have you seen the road at the moment around Dewi Sant.. It’s gridlock. I don’t see where in that area you could accommodate that amount of traffic”

Deb Messing also thought the site would be better used for Heol Goffa, saying: “It’s a great location for Heol Goffa and most Heol Goffa children are taken to school by mini bus. Rather than individual children in individual cars so a lot less cars than if Dewi Sant was there. Then the existing Heol Goffa site could be used as a site for the new Dewi Sant, ideal location as it is in the same area. Parents without transport would have a lot further to walk to town.”

No decision has yet been made on the future of Heol Goffa school.

(Lead image: Google Maps)

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