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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of Council held on the 12th November, 2025 be signed as a correct record.
RESOLVED that Councillor Linda Evans be elected Leader of the Council. The Chair congratulated the new leader, and invited her to make a speech, in which she paid tribute to her predecessor, Councillor Darren Price, and thanked members for the honour of her election. Tributes were paid to the outgoing Leader Councillor Darren Price from the Leaders of the Labour and Independent groups, Councillors Deryk Cundy and Jane Tremlett. They also congratulated the new Leader and wished her well in her time leading the Council.
RESOLVED that Councillor Peter Hughes-Griffiths be elected Chair of the Education and Young People Scrutiny Committee.
RESOLVED to 9.1.1 Note the decision of Cabinet on 1st December 2025 to remove the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee and to delegate decision making functions in respect of the Swansea Bay City Deal to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee 9.1.2 Approve the removal of the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee and delegate the overview and scrutiny function of the Swansea Bay City Deal to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee. 9.1.3 Note the subsuming of the Economic Strategy Board of the Swansea Bay City Deal into the newly established Private Sector Advisory Board for the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee given that is has common membership. 9.1.4 Agree that the Carmarthenshire elected member representation to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee Overview and Scrutiny Committee be retained as at present on a political balanced basis Cllr Deryk Cundy, Emlyn Schiavone and Russell Sparks 9.1.5 Grant delegated authority to the Head of Law, Governance and Civil Services in consultation with the Leader of Council to amend the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee Agreement to reflect the approvals granted by this report, subject to Pembrokeshire Council, Swansea Council and Neath Port Talbot Council agreeing the same. 9.1.6 Delegate all future decision making in respect of the Swansea Bay City Deal to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee. 9.1.7 Note that the decision taken by this council will need to be ratified by the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee prior to its implementation.
RESOLVED that the report be approved.
RESOLVED that the report of the meeting of the Cabinet held on the 17th November, 2025 be received.
RESOLVED that the Motion not be supported.
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors S. Godfrey-Coles, A.D. Harries, G.B. Thomas and J. Williams.
Councillor Minute No (s) Nature of Interest R. James 13.5 Is a Local Educational Authority appointed governor for Ysgol Heol Goffa. L.D. Evans 13.5 Has a relation who works at Ysgol Heol Goffa. M. Beer 13.5 Is a governor for Ysgol Heol Goffa. R. James 13.6 Is an employee of Hywel Dda Health Board, and works with a team involved with the fitting out of Pentre Awel. M. Palfreman 13.6 Runs a healthcare consultancy and has dispensation from the Standards Committee to speak and make written representations but not vote. A. Evans 13.7 Is a governor at Ysgol Pontiets and Ysgol Pum Heol and has dispensation from the Standards Committee to speak and make written representations but not vote.
• The Chair announced that she’d had the pleasure of attending a number of events over the last month. • The Chair advised that she had enjoyed two days spent visiting care homes and day centres and thanked staff for their hard work. She also thanked the hard-working volunteers, two of whom had been volunteering for 32 and 40 years respectively. • The Chair advised that she also attended and enjoyed the Music Services Christmas concert as well as a performance of Joseph at Queen Elizabeth High School. • The Chair invited Councillor Karen Davies to congratulate the headteacher and staff at Ysgol Saron for an excellent Estyn report. Councillor Davies noted that it was a school full of life and happiness and that she was sure it would continue to excel. Members were reminded about Carmarthenshire County Council’s Christmas Toy Box appeal details of which can be found on the Authority’s website along with a list of the donation points, including one in County Hall.
• Councillor Alun Lenny, Cabinet Member for Resources, gave an update on the ongoing budget setting process for the 2026/27 municipal year. He advised that the Revenue Support Grant from Welsh Government covers around 70% of the Council’s budget, and that the draft increase of 2.3% would have made it exceptionally difficult for the Council to set its budget especially given high inflation and demand for services. The Council was advised that the report going to Cabinet next Monday shows a deficit of £3.5m and a Council Tax increase of 6.5%. The Cabinet Member advised that a Senedd budget deal was agreed following this that would send an extra allocation of almost £300m to Councils and the NHS. This would mean a revenue uplift of 4.1%, in cash terms almost £7m above the 2.3% in the draft settlement. This would mean that the deficit of £3.5m could be wiped out, the Council Tax increase substantially reduced, and service cuts alleviated. The Cabinet Member emphasised that despite this the budget pressures were still huge and ongoing.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of Council held on the 12th November, 2025 be signed as a correct record.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of Council held on the 12th November, 2025 be signed as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that Councillor Linda Evans be elected Leader of the Council. The Chair congratulated the new leader, and invited her to make a speech, in which she paid tribute to her predecessor, Councillor Darren Price, and thanked members for the honour of her election. Tributes were paid to the outgoing Leader Councillor Darren Price from the Leaders of the Labour and Independent groups, Councillors Deryk Cundy and Jane Tremlett. They also congratulated the new Leader and wished her well in her time leading the Council.
It was moved and seconded that Councillor Linda Evans be elected Leader of the Council. UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that Councillor Linda Evans be elected Leader of the Council. The Chair congratulated the new leader, and invited her to make a speech, in which she paid tribute to her predecessor, Councillor Darren Price, and thanked members for the honour of her election. Tributes were paid to the outgoing Leader Councillor Darren Price from the Leaders of the Labour and Independent groups, Councillors Deryk Cundy and Jane Tremlett. They also congratulated the new Leader and wished her well in her time leading the Council.
The Leader reported that she had considered the appointment of members to serve on the Cabinet and informed Council that Councillor Hazel Evanas had been appointed as the Deputy Leader and Councillor Emlyn Schiavone would take over the Housing Portfolio. There were no other changes.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that Councillor Peter Hughes-Griffiths be elected Chair of the Education and Young People Scrutiny Committee.
The Council, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4 (2), considered one nomination received for the election of Chair of the Education and Young People Scrutiny Committee following a mid-term vacancy. Following a vote, it was RESOLVED that Councillor Peter Hughes-Griffiths be elected Chair of the Education and Young People Scrutiny Committee.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to 9.1.1 Note the decision of Cabinet on 1st December 2025 to remove the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee and to delegate decision making functions in respect of the Swansea Bay City Deal to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee 9.1.2 Approve the removal of the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee and delegate the overview and scrutiny function of the Swansea Bay City Deal to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee. 9.1.3 Note the subsuming of the Economic Strategy Board of the Swansea Bay City Deal into the newly established Private Sector Advisory Board for the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee given that is has common membership. 9.1.4 Agree that the Carmarthenshire elected member representation to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee Overview and Scrutiny Committee be retained as at present on a political balanced basis Cllr Deryk Cundy, Emlyn Schiavone and Russell Sparks 9.1.5 Grant delegated authority to the Head of Law, Governance and Civil Services in consultation with the Leader of Council to amend the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee Agreement to reflect the approvals granted by this report, subject to Pembrokeshire Council, Swansea Council and Neath Port Talbot Council agreeing the same. 9.1.6 Delegate all future decision making in respect of the Swansea Bay City Deal to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee. 9.1.7 Note that the decision taken by this council will need to be ratified by the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee prior to its implementation.
Following the decision of Cabinet on 1st December 2025, members were asked to consider a review undertaken into the Swansea Bay City Deal and to approve the delegation of future overview and scrutiny functions of the Swansea Bay City Deal to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee. The Leader of the Council introduced the report, advising of the background to the Joint Committee for the Swansea Bay City Region which promoted and facilitated projects funded under the Swansea Bay City Deal. It was noted that the Joint Committee comprised the four leaders of the Councils involved and oversaw decision making within the programme to ensure the functions of the city deal programme were fulfilled. A regional joint scrutiny committee was also created to ensure that appropriate overview and scrutiny functions could take place. As the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee structures have matured, significant duplication between the Swansea Bay City Deal and the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee has emerged, prompting a proposal to streamline governance The report provides further information on proposals to integrate the Swansea Bay City Deal’s Governance into the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee. In response to a question regarding the sufficiency of the Portfolio Management Office to support the projects, and the potential for the withdrawal of money by UK Government if targets for job creation are not met, the Chief Executive advised that how the City Deal integrates with the Corporate Joint Committee was being reviewed and that the skills and talents within the Portfolio Management Office would be part of this consideration. UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to 9.1.1 Note the decision of Cabinet on 1st December 2025 to remove the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee and to delegate decision making functions in respect of the Swansea Bay City Deal to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee 9.1.2 Approve the removal of the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee and delegate the overview and scrutiny function of the Swansea Bay City Deal to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee. 9.1.3 Note the subsuming of the Economic Strategy Board of the Swansea Bay City Deal into the newly established Private Sector Advisory Board for the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee given that is has common membership. 9.1.4 Agree that the Carmarthenshire elected member representation to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee Overview and Scrutiny Committee be retained as at present on a political balanced basis Cllr Deryk Cundy, Emlyn Schiavone and Russell Sparks 9.1.5 Grant delegated authority to the Head of Law, Governance and Civil Services in consultation with the Leader of Council to amend the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee Agreement to reflect the approvals granted by this report, subject to Pembrokeshire Council, Swansea Council and Neath Port Talbot Council agreeing the same. 9.1.6 Delegate all future decision making in respect of the Swansea Bay City Deal to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee. 9.1.7 Note that the decision taken by this council will need to be ratified by the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee prior to its implementation.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that the report be approved.
Following the decision of Cabinet on 1st December 2025, members were asked to approve the update on treasury management activities from 1st April 2025 to 30th September 2025. The Cabinet Member for Resources presented the report and advised that the Treasury Management Policy and Strategy for 2025-26, approved by Council last February, stated that Treasury Management activity reports would be presented to Cabinet, County Council and CP&R Scrutiny Committee during the year. The Cabinet Member set out the background to the report, including the inflation and interest rate figures that affect the Treasury Management. Council was advised of the investment balance and interest earned as set out in the report as well as the borrowing performance. It was also noted that the actual Prudential Indicators to be monitored were within the limits set by the Budget 2025-26 and the Treasury Management Policy and Strategy for the year. UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report be approved.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that the report of the meeting of the Cabinet held on the 17th November, 2025 be received.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report of the meeting of the Cabinet held on the 17th November, 2025 be received.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that the Motion not be supported.
Council considered the following Notice of Motion submitted by Councillors M. Palfreman and E.Skinner: “Labour County Councillors have previously raised serious concerns about the lack of dedicated transport provision for some pupils across Carmarthenshire who do not qualify for free transport but who live a significant distance from the schools they attend. Even within designated catchment areas some pupils need to travel more than 2 and a half miles to school, often having to negotiate busy roads in the process. Where there is no access to private transport, some pupils have no option other than to walk to school, this journey potentially taking up to an hour. Inclement weather and dark mornings and evenings over the winter months pose genuine risks to their safety. Spare seats allocated to pupils, once those qualifying for free travel have been accommodated, are undoubtedly helpful in some cases, but decisions are taken too late in the autumn term, meaning uncertainty and anxiety for many parents. Furthermore, allocation of spare seats does not address the problem faced by those for whom no bus service exists. Parents whose children can’t access transport to school are rightly concerned about the emotional and physical impact of this, and some have indicated that they have no choice but to keep them away from school, potentially contributing to the high number of children across Carmarthenshire that are already home schooled. Parents are not expecting free provision but are willing to pay for what they consider to be a basic right. They expect their willingness to contribute to the cost to be matched by County Council investment. This Council recognises the very real hardship faced by families whose children do not have access to dedicated school transport and agrees to: 1. Undertake an urgent audit to (1) identify which schools’ catchment areas mean that some pupils may have to travel more than 2 miles to school, (2) ascertain routes that are not currently covered by dedicated school transport and (3) provide an estimate of the number of pupils likely to be affected 2. Liaise with transport providers to explore the feasibility of introducing new services to address gaps in provision 3. Develop a costed plan for enhanced provision, thereby fulfilling its statutory duty to provide socially necessary bus routes, its declared commitment to improving school attendance rates and its moral duty to look after the wellbeing of pupils and their families 4. Review existing timeframes for deciding allocation of spare seats” The motion was duly seconded. The proposer and seconder of the Motion were afforded the opportunity of speaking in support thereof and outlined the reasons for its submission, as set out in the Motion. A number of statements were made in support of and against the Motion. Following a vote, it was: RESOLVED that the Motion not be supported.
There were no public questions received.
Diolch Chair, thank you very much. First of all, congratulations Cllr Evans, on your appointment I am sure you will lead us very well. My question is: As part of the assessment process and consultation period local councillors are asked to comment on suitability of planning applications. In order to assess these correctly and reply on an informed basis I ask the following: How many HMO’s are registered within Carmarthenshire and across its wards and when will the public register of such properties (similar to Swansea’s) be accessible without the need of an FOI by members of the public and councillors? Response by Councillor Linda Evans, Cabinet Member for Homes Thank you, Cllr Williams, for the question, it’s an important question and a lot of requests are coming in at the moment, as we are all aware and I do agree with you that we need a list and that the list is up to date. But I can confirm to you today that the department is currently doing the work of reviewing and updating the database of HMOs. That is happening now. As part of this exercise, officers have contacted council tax to identify properties that may be operating as HMOs, but they haven’t registered, and they are issuing letters to those landlords and property owners asking for the latest information. Where properties are confirmed to be HMOs, the housing team then follows up with documentation of the HMO licensing application and then arrange inspection visits to make sure that they are up to standard. In cases where landlords or owners indicate that the property is not a HMO, the housing team then do checks to make sure that the information they provide is correct. They work to make sure that the information we have is accurate and then updated and make sure that all properties that operate as a HMO, have been licensed and have been registered to do so. We will make sure that the public register is available on the Council’s website pages in the New Year, as soon the current exercise is completed. We will make sure that this process is completed as soon as possible and I am also sure, I was looking around for Councillor Rob Evans, I am sure that Councillor Rob Evans as Chair of the Communities Scrutiny Committee, would be prepared to request for a report to be submitted to the Scrutiny Committee for discussion on that update, as soon as the work is completed. I do agree with you, we need to have this as soon as possible. It is there, but it does need to be updated and I do admit that. Diolch.
How many fires involving EV refuse trucks have been recorded within Carmarthenshire during the last year, what were the findings of any investigation into the cause and if vehicle failure has been identified as the cause has there been any compensation sought for loss of that vehicle and any associated costs? Response by Councillor Edward Thomas, Cabinet Member for Transport, Waste and Infrastructure. Thank you, Councillor Williams for your question. I could make this quite a simple answer - to date there have been no incidents involving the electrical systems of electric vehicles refuse trucks operating with Carmarthenshire. However, there was a single event where an EV refuse truck was withdrawn from service after smoke was observed emanating from underneath the vehicle while stationary at the roadside. A full investigation determined that the cause was a mechanical failure within the chassis component and not related to the battery, motor or any other electrical systems. Following this incident a review of maintenance protocols was undertaken, and all EV refuse trucks now undergo scheduled inspections in house. Electrical systems continue to be monitored as part of routine checks and no faults identified as of today. These measures are designed to ensure continued operational safety and reliability of EV vehicles while maintaining confidence in the transition to low emission waste collection service. Supplementary question by Councillor Steve Williams. In relation to the investigation the question I would like to ask is about the investigations being conducted in-house, is the experience of the investigating officer to investigate fires involving lithium-ion batteries in vehicles. So if we can have some update to potential to litigate that I would be grateful. Thank you. Response by Councillor Edward Thomas, Cabinet Member for Transport, Waste and Infrastructure. Yes, that can be provided later.
For the last 4 years, how many such reports around HMO’s involving littering / failure to manage waste or ASB have led to enforcement and recovery of costs from the landlords/tenants and what extra discretionary conditions have been placed on the address/landlord? Response by Councillor Edward Thomas, Cabinet Member for Transport, Waste and Infrastructure. Thank you for your question. There have been no such reports in the last four years that led to enforcement, recovery of costs, or the imposition of extra discretionary conditions on the address or landlord.
Could the Cabinet Member please provide an updated cost estimate for the proposed conversion of Ammanford Town Hall into residential flats? Response by Councillor Linda Evans, Cabinet Member for Homes. Well, it's good. actually, to give the latest information to you and members on this so thank you for your question. Facing the prospect of investing almost one million pounds just to bring this building to a basic standard for office use with a continuing revenue of £50,000 a year, this wasn't acceptable and not a good use of public money to be honest. I'm pleased that we've decided to turn it into something much more valuable to the local community - eight brand new homes, which will help to meet the need for homes for the local people of Ammanford. This gain will breathe new life into our Ammanford Town Hall, creating a mixture of flats and homes including three and four-bedroom properties. Six homes will be developed sensitively within the town hall itself and a further two in the adjacent car park area. By repurposing the building this way, we are providing better value for money, addressing housing needs and also making sure that a key civic asset in Ammanford continues to serve the community for generations to come. As the development is being tendered shortly, the cost update that you have asked for is currently commercially sensitive for obvious reasons, and as a former leader of this Council, I know that you will understand this. We will be more than happy to share the costs and the breakdown of finances with you when the tendering exercise has been completed, and a contractor has been appointed. Supplementary question by Councillor Kevin Madge. Could the Leader explain why the building was not offered to Ammanford Town Council through an asset transfer like the asset transfer which was undertaken in 2017 by Carmarthen Town Council for the community facility? Thank you. Response by Councillor Linda Evans, Cabinet Member for Homes. Thanks for the question. To be honest, we had a use for it. If it had gone to the Town Council it would have been a big cost of the Town Council as well. We did offer six months to the Town Council in the library for six months without paying rent at all. To be honest, the building is needed in order to turn it into homes. I think members and the public very often complain, why don't you turn buildings into homes instead of building new things all the time. Yes, there is a cost of refurbishing a building but the town hall, it's a big town hall and we are keeping the façade in Ammanford and it's really important that we turn it into homes that will be for the benefit of the local people in Ammanford. And if you will ask the local people, I think they would say that homes for local people are important to them or I think that they would be saying it would be homes. They were offered also, the Ammanford Civic Hall. There's a big centre, but that wasn't acceptable at the time. So, I'm pleased that they have now settled where they are now and I wish the Town Council the very best in their new location.
[NOTE: Councillors M. Beer, R. James and L.D. Evans re-declared their interests and remained in the meeting] We have been given an estimate that the rebuilding of Heol Goffa is likely to cost approximately £35 million pounds of which the current Welsh Government have stated they will fund 75% of the amount. On the estimates we currently have we would need to allocate around £9 million pounds from our own available unallocated budget of £18 million. The question parents in my ward are asking me to ask you is: “Have we ring fenced any of the unallocated MEP budget for the enhanced replacement of the current Heol Goffa school? Response by Councillor Glynog Davies, Cabinet Member for Education. Thank you, Chair. In short, Deryk – the answer is yes, the money has been ringfenced, and that simply answers your question in full. But I know you well enough, and I think you expect a little bit more from me. And, of course, you gave me a free pass at the last Council meeting – I didn't have a question. Anyway, following the Cabinet decision on the 31st of July this year to create a new 150 pupil school to replace the existing Heol Goffa, work has been going on to further develop the design along with other preparatory tasks. Owain Lloyd – our Director of Education has kept the Chair of Governors and Headteacher updated. I'm turning into Welsh, if you want to put your earphones on. On the 2nd of October, officers met with the school – the Chair, the Headteacher, and officers met with them to discuss the timetable. And on the 20th of November, the Director and officers gave an update to the staff, governors, and parents, and the preparation is going on very well, and it was right for them to hear that – and they were grateful. The plans for the building are progressing, and the statutory consultation was discussed, and also the business case that will be presented eventually to the Welsh Government. The next meeting with the school will be in the Spring, and we will be sharing with the school the visual design plans. Everybody wants to know, you know, how the building will look. It's an exciting time for Ysgol Heol Goffa. The developments I've referred to are a significant milestone in the school's journey, and the new building will offer a modern resource, which will be a state-of-the-art facility. The school will be built – a purpose-built environment, and I'm personally excited about the school, and there definitely will be a fresh environment, an appealing environment that will promote the educational experience. The whole school community – the staff, learners and their families will be pleased, very pleased of being in their new home. [Chair intervenes]. I have to say this, Chair. I understand that the Student Council are collecting feedback with a new possible name for the school, and that is news for us. Let us all, now, focus on the school's promising future rather than past challenges. Thank you, Chair.”
[NOTE: Councillor M. Palfreman re-declared his interest and remained in the meeting] [NOTE: Councillor R. James re-declared his interest and left the meeting for the duration of the agenda item] Can the Cabinet member please advise on the nature of planned NHS provision at the Health and Wellbeing Hwb in the former Debenhams site in Carmarthen and reassure Council that this contribution will not compromise promised healthcare facilities at Llanelli’s Canolfan Pentre Awel, which are much needed in an area of significant deprivation with attendant public health needs? Response by Councillor Jane Tremlett, Cabinet Member for Integrated Health and Children and Adult Social Services. The services planned for Carmarthen Health and Wellbeing Hwb will have no bearing on the planned services that are due to move to Canolfan Pentre Awel. Canolfan Pentre Awel will provide a facility focussed on community services for the population within the Llanelli integrated locality whereas Carmarthen Health and Wellbeing Hwb will focus on community services for the Taf and Towy integrated locality. Both facilities will complement each other and ensure that both communities have updated modern facilities whilst releasing space in Prince Phillip and Gwangwilli Hospitals for acute services. On a wider note, as the largest regeneration project in the region, Pentre Awel is a ‘once in a generation’ development located across 83 acres of land. Led by Carmarthenshire County Council in partnership with Hywel Dda University Health Board and academia, the development not only regenerates a former brownfield site bringing significant economic growth to the region but will also significantly improve health outcomes for the local population. Zone 1, named Canolfan, combines modern leisure facilities with health clinical delivery and research, business and innovation and aligned education and training. Canolfan opened to the public on 15th October 2025 and features an eight-lane swimming pool, a hydrotherapy pool, gym, sports hall and café housed within an attractive community space with more public services due to come on stream in 2026. Future zones include a nursing home, extra care facilities and assisted living units to buy and rent alongside a hotel development, executive housing and further business expansion space for those organisations who outgrow Canolfan. The ambition of the project was recognised at last week’s Wales Investment Summit as one of 6 capital projects across Wales showcased at the event. I hope this response goes some way to reassuring you Councillor Palfreman and also the residents of Llanelli and Carmarthen. Thank you. Supplementary question by Councillor Martyn Palfreman. Thank you Chair and thank you Councillor Tremlett for a very comprehensive answer. I think we all welcome Pentre Awel as a massively advantageous facility for not just Llanelli but for the county, I’m really reassured that you’re saying that the populations of Carmarthen and Llanelli will both benefit from the promised healthcare. I wonder if you could just say, could you give us an indication of timescales for that health provision arriving in the Debenhams site, so when that’s going to open, and when we can expect the healthcare facilities to be live in Pentre Awel. Diolch. Response by Councillor Jane Tremlett, Cabinet Member for Integrated Health and Children and Adult Social Services. As I mentioned in the response, other service will be due to come on stream in 2026, so I think we’ll sort of see how that moves along and hopefully at pace.
[NOTE: Councillor A. Evans re-declared his interest and remained in the meeting] Can the Cabinet Member provide any clarification or timeline on how long the current ‘pause’ on the statutory process to close Ysgol Pontiets will last, and, in light of the impact the ongoing uncertainty will have on attracting new pupils and retaining existing ones, what assurance can the Cabinet Member give that these impacts will be fully considered should the statutory closure process resume? Response by Councillor Glynog Davies, Cabinet Member for Education. The decision to pause the consultation with Ysgol Pontiets was part of our response to the emergency that arose at Ysgol Carwe at the end of August, and if you remember, there are less than two miles between both schools. There was discussion between us and the Governing Body of the Carwe Federation, and this was followed with further discussions with the Chair and the Headteacher to come up with a temporary solution for now, so children go to Ysgol Gwynfryn. As a result of these conversations, we have to consider a range of options concerning Ysgol Carwe, everything needs to be explored in that area very carefully. Until this happens, it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to start any conversations regarding Ysgol Pontiets and the pause. I do sympathise very much with all of you, there’s an uncertainty, it doesn’t help us, but it doesn’t help to attract new children, and it doesn’t help parents who have children in the school now. I apologise, but after consulting with the officers, I can’t offer a definitive timeline or give you an update on lifting the pause, but I do want to say, and I want to give you assurance that we will communicate as soon as we get clarity on the way forward. Supplementary question by Councillor Alex Evans. I would like to thank the Cabinet Member for the response and for recognising the difficulties this uncertainty is causing for everyone involved in Ysgol Pontiets. As a supplementary, Chair, given that a pause creates and has created so much uncertainty for parents, staff, pupils and the wider community, why was a decision not taken instead to stop the process indefinitely? Response by Councillor Glynog Davies, Cabinet Member for Education. As you are aware, the original decision was to consult statutory, on the future of Ysgol Potiets, as the decision with Ysgol Y Fro and Ysgol Meidrim. I was of the opinion, that was the right thing to do, so there was a delay because there were issues in the area, but this doesn’t change the circumstances behind the original decision, those haven’t changed at all. Diolch.
The Chair stated that the minutes outlined on the agenda under 14.1 – 14.6 were available for information on the Council website.
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