Contact/Cyswllt:  Sian Cliff
02920 898342 / sian.cliff@wales.gov.uk

Powys Community Schools Action Group today handed over their petition of nearly 2,500 signatures to Mike German AM representative of the Assembly Petitions Group.

Mick Bates AM said: “I am pleased to see democracy at work in the Assembly. This petition calls on the Welsh Assembly Government to recognise the importance of our local community schools in Powys and it is something that I strongly support. Prince Charles once said that the 'pub is the hub' but I believe that our local schools are the true hub of our communities.

“Our communities in Wales are such a precious part of our life and our local schools lie at the heart of this. They are essential for the education of children in the local area and are of vital importance for the poorer families who cannot afford to travel miles to schools further afield. They also offer huge benefits in terms of social inclusion and play a key role in ensuring the sustainability of our rural areas.

“I will be keeping a close eye on the progress of the petition through the new Assembly petitions procedure and I hope that the petition will stimulate good debate and raise awareness over the need for strong services to support our local communities.”

Kirsty Williams AM said “This petition represents the strong voice of the rural communities of Powys who are faced with the continuous onslaught of threatened closure of their local services including schools, hospitals, post offices, libraries and public conveniences.

“They, like so many forgotten rural communities across Wales, feel undervalued, endangered and forgotten by the Cardiff bubble of decision makers.

“The petition calls for a change in Welsh Assembly Government policy to alleviate the pressure on Powys County Council to close small schools across the county as part of its current highly destructive programme and instead to encourage a comprehensive review of educational provisions across the county, area by area so as to work with communities to come up with sustainable alternatives.”


End / Diwedd


NOTES:

Photo left to right: Kirsty Williams AM for Brecon & Radnorshire; Mike German AM, Petitions Committee Member; Alun Davies AM Mid and West Wales; Mick Bates AM Montgomeryshire; Bob Smith Powys Schools Community Action Group (PSCAG), Ros Garrett PSCAG; Nerys Evans AM Mid and West Wales; Roger Blunden PSCAG


PRESS RELEASE
FROM POWYS COMMUNITY SCHOOLS ACTION
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PETITION TO HALT CLOSURE OF SMALL SCHOOLS PRESENTED TO WELSH ASSEMBLY

Powys Community Schools Action, a group of parents and school governors, today presented a petition with nearly 2,500 signatures to Val Lloyd AM, Chair of the Welsh Assembly Petitions Committee.

The wording of the petition is:
‘We call upon the Welsh Assembly Government to sustain the communities of Powys, the most rural of Welsh counties, and to halt and reverse the pressure on Powys County Council to close the schools which are the heart of those communities.’

A spokesman said:
‘Rural communities throughout Wales are constantly threatened with the loss of facilities and services, and the closure of small schools is the latest in a long line of threatened closures. Powys County Council, under pressure from the Welsh Assembly Government and Education watchdog Estyn, has started an ill-considered panic programme of closures of community schools. The council has made no attempt to look seriously at the educational and community implications of their plans. Their so called ‘schools modernisation programme’ is merely an attempt to save money by picking off the smallest schools in the county. We are calling upon the Welsh Assembly Government to ease the pressure on Powys and show leadership in developing a rural education policy for Wales.’

‘In only two months, we gathered nearly 2,500 signatures in just a few communities. The strength of feeling in favour of small local schools is overwhelming. Our petition is supported by AMs from all political parties. We have received particular support from Kirsty Williams AM, Mick Bates AM and Alun Davies AM.’

‘Accompanying our petition is a carefully worded document setting out in detail our concerns and the remedies we propose. This is a constructive proposal to the Welsh Assembly Government asking them to show leadership and joined up thinking.’

‘In brief, we ask the Welsh Assembly Government to:
• recognise the importance of rural communities to Wales, and the vital role which schools play in these communities;
• recognise the benefits of educating children in their own communities;
• ease the pressure on Powys and other local authorities until the issues have been properly reviewed;
• urgently require local authorities to comply with existing guidance on school organisation proposals and stop the sham consultations they currently hold;
• look at the role of Estyn in promoting school closures;
• develop a rural education policy to complement the rural health policy;
• ensure that education is considered in the Rural Development Committee’s review of rural service delivery;
• update and strengthen Assembly guidance to authorities on school organisation proposals, encouraging them to develop positive approaches to education;
• embrace joined up thinking around communities, education and rural affairs.’

‘We are aware of a recently published report which purports to show benefits from school closures. However, this is based solely on the subjective views of a tiny sample of individuals and does not stand up as serious independent research. Much more careful and rigorous research is needed into the impact of school closures on pupils and communities.’

‘Education in rural communities is one important area where leadership by the Welsh Assembly Government is urgently needed and could make a huge difference in the lives of children, parents and communities throughout Wales.’


ENDS

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Bob Smith, 01686 420397, powys.csa@googlemail.com, or
Roger Blunden, 01691 648909, roger.blunden@gmail.com

A copy of the submission accompanying the petition is also available from the above contacts.