#heolgoffa — Public Fediverse posts

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.

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HEOL GOFFA ROW: Plaid accuses Labour of causing ‘unnecessary distress’ over special school claims
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LLANELLI: ‘£35m black hole’ row erupts over Ysgol Heol Goffa funding
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LLANELLI: Consultation opens on £35m Ysgol Heol Goffa rebuild
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LLANELLI: £35m new Ysgol Heol Goffa to open in 2029 — but funding question hangs over Plaid government
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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
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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.

Decision on new Heol Goffa school expected this month
The moment a ‘definitive proposal’ was promised — as parents demanded action.

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.