Blaenclydach School
The closure of Blaenclydach School was announced a week ago. Parents are understandably angry. I opposed the closure, and wrote to Ministers arguing for the school to stay open. I supported the parents' lobby of the National Assembly, along with local Clydach Vale Labour councillor Mark Norris, who had put the case against closure at the original RCT Cabinet meeting which made the decision.
I know that it is rare for Ministers to overturn school closure decisions by local authorities, but I thought that a strong case had been put forward to keep it open. As I said in the Assembly Chamber on Wednesday, the parents have not yet exhausted all the legal options.
The reality is that once a local authority has taken the decision to close a school, it is very rare indeed for Assembly Ministers to overturn that. Assembly Ministers will focus mostly on the process operated by the local authority, and whether that has been carried out correctly, acting in a quasi-judicial capacity.