#michelle-beer — Public Fediverse posts

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.

CARMARTHEN: Reform MS vows to visit shop that ‘excluded’ his wife to seek ‘respectful dialogue’

A Reform UK MS has vowed to personally visit a Carmarthen shop that allegedly excluded his wife during the Senedd election campaign — after claiming she was barred from the business, chased in the street and verbally abused because of her political beliefs.

Gareth Beer MS, who represents the Sir Gaerfyrddin constituency covering Carmarthenshire, published a lengthy statement on Facebook on Tuesday paying tribute to his wife, Cllr Michelle Beer — before detailing what he described as a series of deeply troubling incidents she had experienced in the run-up to the May 7 vote.

“She has been excluded from shops in Carmarthen, verbally abused in the street, chased, and called vile names, simply because she believes in standing up for her country and representing Reform UK,” Beer wrote.

He said she had also faced exclusion from “local organisations (publicly funded)” — though he gave no details of which organisations he was referring to.

Later in the same post, Beer appeared to refer to a single shop rather than multiple businesses. He said he intended to visit it personally — not to escalate matters, but to seek dialogue.

“I will personally visit the shop in Carmarthen where this occurred and introduce myself,” he wrote. “Not to escalate tensions, but to ensure that respectful dialogue replaces hostility. Politics should never descend into personal harassment.”

The shop has not been named.

Beer acknowledged the broader political charge his statement was likely to attract. “We are repeatedly told that Reform is ‘divisive,’” he wrote. “Yet it was she who faced hostility and exclusion. It was she who was treated unfairly because of her political beliefs. That contradiction speaks volumes.”

“In a democratic society, no one should face intimidation or discrimination because of the party they support, whether that is Reform, Labour, Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives, or any other political movement,” he added.

Gareth Beer knows Carmarthenshire politics intimately. At the 2024 general election he came within 1,504 votes of taking the Llanelli parliamentary seat for Reform — the party’s strongest performance anywhere in Wales at that contest.

On 7 May he went one better. Beer topped Reform’s Sir Gaerfyrddin list and was the second MS declared in the constituency — becoming the first Reform UK MS ever elected in west Wales. The party took three of the six seats, with Carmelo Colasanto and Sarah Edwards also elected.

Cllr Michelle Beer made her own political history in May 2025, winning Llanelli’s Lliedi ward to become the first ever Reform UK member on Carmarthenshire County Council. She also stood as the sixth candidate on Reform’s Sir Gaerfyrddin Senedd list on 7 May — just missing out on a seat as the party’s vote was sufficient to elect only three of its six candidates.

Her ward borders the former Stradey Park Hotel — the site that became a flashpoint for protests in 2023 after the Home Office announced plans to house asylum seekers there. Both she and Gareth Beer were active in the campaign against those plans.

The protests attracted far-right groups and figures from across the UK, including Tommy Robinson, before the Home Office dropped its plans in October 2023. Dyfed Powys Police spent more than £1 million policing the demonstrations — three times the initial estimate.

Gareth Beer’s Facebook post was shared and endorsed by Reform UK leader Dan Thomas MS and chief whip Llŷr Powell MS — signalling that the party regards the incident as a broader political issue, not just a personal grievance.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Reform UK and Plaid Cymru take three seats each in Sir Gaerfyrddin as Welsh Labour wiped out
The May 7 result that saw Gareth Beer become the first Reform UK MS elected in west Wales.

Reform UK names full Carmarthenshire Senedd slate
Our coverage of Reform’s Sir Gaerfyrddin candidate list, including Michelle Beer as sixth on the list.

Stradey Park boss hits out at ‘nuisance’ far-right group in explosive video
The latest in our coverage of the ongoing Stradey Park Hotel saga in Llanelli.

CARMARTHENSHIRE: Reform UK names full Senedd slate — but selection rows and defections cast shadow over campaign launch

Reform UK has unveiled its six candidates for Carmarthenshire’s Senedd constituency and announced a new deputy leader for its Welsh operation — but the campaign launch arrives against a backdrop of candidate resignations, selection rows and defections that have dogged the party in recent weeks.

The party has confirmed its full list for Sir Gaerfyrddin, one of the 16 new enlarged constituencies that will each return six members under Wales’s new proportional voting system at the May 7 Senedd election.

Leading the ticket is Gareth Beer, a Kidwelly town councillor and local businessman who has become one of Reform’s most recognisable figures in Carmarthenshire. As Swansea Bay News has reported, Beer came within 1,504 votes of defeating Labour’s Nia Griffith in the Llanelli Westminster seat at the July 2024 general election — Reform UK’s strongest performance anywhere in Wales at that contest.

Beer is not the only Kidwelly town councillor contesting the Sir Gaerfyrddin seat this May. As Swansea Bay News has reported, Carl Peters-Bond — who is currently serving a historic fourth successive term as Mayor of Kidwelly — is also standing in the constituency, but as an independent candidate. Peters-Bond has been an active voice on Carmarthenshire issues during the campaign, calling for action on fuel costs for rural families and pushing for progress on the long-stalled reopening of St Clears railway station.

Beer said the response on the doorstep had been “overwhelmingly positive.” He added: “People are tired of the same old promises and spin from career politicians — they want a genuine alternative and real change at Cardiff Bay.”

Joining him on the list is Carmelo Colasanto, a county and community councillor who first worked in Llanelli 27 years ago and has since returned to the town, bringing a background in business compliance and corporate governance. Sarah Edwards, a retired dental professional and smallholder, stands as a prominent campaigner against electricity pylon developments across the Welsh countryside. Christopher Brooke, a retired engineer originally from Wrexham now based in Carmarthenshire, and Alan Cole — a business consultant with a background in senior roles at LG Electronics, Sanyo and HomeServe — round out the business-oriented portion of the list.

The sixth candidate is Michelle Beer, Gareth’s wife. A marketing and PR professional, she made Carmarthenshire political history when she won the Lliedi ward by-election in Llanelli in May 2025, becoming the county’s first-ever Reform UK councillor after defeating Labour in one of its traditional strongholds. The win followed just months after the Llanelli result had established the family as central figures in the party’s Carmarthenshire operation. More recently, Reform consolidated that county council foothold when the party won the Llangennech by-election, securing a second seat on Carmarthenshire County Council.

Michelle Beer was also among those who campaigned against plans to house asylum seekers at the Stradey Park Hotel in Llanelli in 2023 — a proposal the Home Office ultimately abandoned following local opposition. The hotel’s subsequent closure has been one of the most significant ongoing stories in Carmarthenshire.

The Carmarthenshire candidate announcement coincided with news of a new appointment at the top of Reform’s Welsh operation. Dan Thomas, who was appointed Reform Wales leader by Nigel Farage in February, has named Helen Jenner as his deputy. Jenner — a Welsh speaker who tops the party’s list in the Bangor Conwy Môn constituency — was born in Neath and raised on Ynys Môn, and works as a teacher.

Thomas said the appointment reflected the importance of teamwork across the organisation. Jenner said Wales was “at a crossroads” and described Reform as “the only party offering ambitious, credible solutions to the problems the people of Wales face.”

The announcements come at a turbulent time for the party in Wales. Just days after Reform revealed its Swansea and Gower candidate list, one of those named sensationally quit, accusing the party of betrayal and claiming it had “sunk deep into the sewer.” Separately, a Reform Senedd hopeful in Pembrokeshire resigned from the party entirely, alleging the candidate selection process had been rigged. The party has also seen a flow of new arrivals — including Swansea councillor Francesca O’Brien, who recently joined Reform from the Conservatives ahead of the election.

Polling puts the Senedd race in a state of flux. The most recent survey tracked by Swansea Bay News showed Plaid Cymru storming ahead of its rivals — a significant shift from earlier polls that had Reform neck and neck with the nationalists. In Sir Gaerfyrddin specifically, Plaid is projected to dominate with four seats, leaving Reform competing for the remaining two alongside Labour.

The candidates highlighted NHS waiting times, education standards, the cost of living and opposition to net zero energy policies as their main campaign priorities.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Reform win landslide victory in Llanelli by-election
Michelle Beer’s historic by-election win that made her Carmarthenshire’s first-ever Reform UK councillor.

Reform UK wins Llangennech by-election, securing second seat on Carmarthenshire County Council
The party doubled its county council representation in Carmarthenshire ahead of the Senedd campaign.

Swansea Reform UK candidate quits in furious ‘betrayal’ rant – ‘Party has sunk into the sewer!’
The turbulence that has run alongside Reform’s candidate announcements across South West Wales.

Reform Senedd hopeful quits party over claims of ‘rigged’ selection process in Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion
Another candidate row that has complicated Reform’s campaign preparations in Wales.

Plaid Cymru storms ahead as shock Senedd poll predicts political earthquake in Wales
The latest polling picture that shapes the battle for seats in Sir Gaerfyrddin on May 7.

Candidate demands action on stalled St Clears station after ‘five years of promises’
Kidwelly mayor Carl Peters-Bond — also standing in Sir Gaerfyrddin but as an independent — on the campaign trail in Carmarthenshire.