'FINANCE GONE SILLY'

22 August 2005

Shaun Greaney looks at the latest development in the controversy over plans to close Dylan Thomas Community School.

Campaigners fighting plans to axe a Swansea school have hit back at council plans to invest millions in another site. They say the announcement has not only moved the goalposts over the proposals but the whole pitch.

Parents and governors opposing the plans say their hand has been strengthened by a council announcement that £20 million should be spent on a super-school at Bishop Gore, Sketty, instead.Parents, teachers and governors of under-threat Dylan Thomas Community School in Cockett say the closure debate is now "a whole new ball game".

They argue the £20 million figure to create state-of-the-art facilities at Bishop Gore is "crazy money".

The chairman of governors at Dylan Thomas, former Castle councillor Dereck Roberts, said: "The figure has gone up from £7 million for Bishop Gore to £20 million."They are now saying it could be two to three years before they can transfer the school.

"What it means from our point of view is that we have had a false consultation.

"But he said the figures being talked about strengthened the case for Dylan Thomas.

He added: "The whole thing in my view is nonsense. Now it is a completely new ball game."More than 1,000 people signed up for the campaign to save Dylan Thomas School. They want council chiefs to rethink their plans to have Dylan Thomas pupils transferring to Bishop Gore.

Mr Roberts said: "Fundamentally we still believe Dylan Thomas is viable, but £20 million is an incredible amount. There are other options they need to look at, like having a merged school."We will be responding to the consultation.

"The question is why have we only now heard about this proposal now. They haven't only moved the goalposts, they've moved the pitch."

Swansea West AM Andrew Davies, who has supported the Dylan Thomas campaign, said:"It's a complete shambles that it is at this stage in the process we discover that Bishop Gore School will need £20 million spent on it.

"I understand the work will need to be done over several years and therefore it won't be ready by 2007 as originally planned."To be honest, it is a mess.

"You don't go ahead with a major consultation like this unless it is thought through.

"On the one hand you have a very good school in very good condition in Dylan Thomas and then there is Bishop Gore School, which the council admits will need £20 million spent on it.

"Once again it supports my proposal about a merger, whereby they use both sites."

Mr Davies said he would fight the plans to close Dylan Thomas all the way at the Assembly.Should the council press ahead with its plans a statutory notice will be issued in September to announce the changes.

A two-month consultation period will follow and if, as is on the cards, an objection is made before the November 5 deadline, the decision will go to the Assembly.

If that is the case, the earliest a decision is likely will be March 2006.

Already parents, staff and governors have submitted 26 pages on the arguments for why the school should be saved.

Parent-governor Robin Lowe said he was amazed at the £20 million figure.He asked: "Where are they going to get the money from?

"They have the most accessible school in Swansea in Dylan Thomas, they have the land and they want to do this to the oldest school in Swansea?

"There's nothing wrong with Bishop Gore, but wouldn't they be better off spending on a school that doesn't need as much money spent on it?

"Will they need to close other schools if they spend this amount of money?"

Parent support group leader Sheila Lewis said:"They have got it wrong again.

"This is finance gone silly."

Cabinet member for education Councillor Mike Day said the proposal to transfer pupils from Dylan Thomas to Bishop Gore was not a reflection on the teaching or provision at Dylan Thomas.

He said: "The reality is that pupil numbers in secondary schools across Swansea are falling. This means vital funding is being spent on empty desks and chairs instead of the pupils and their needs.

"The anticipated reduction in school numbers at Dylan Thomas means there will only be around 400 in the school in five years' time. If we do nothing, it will not be possible to provide the same choices in curriculum as pupils will be getting in other schools."