Parents of children who could see their community schools shut down and turned into a "superschool" have accused their local council leader of having a hidden agenda.
It comes after Neath Port Talbot Council leader Rob Jones was heard in an audio clip saying: "If I had my way I would change all schools into three - 16 schools."
The clip was recorded during a Labour meeting in 2019 and has recently been shared on social media. Cllr Rob Jones has since "stepped back" from his duties as a response to what was heard in the clip, and an investigation has been launched.
The meeting discussed proposals that could permanently close Alltwen, Godre'r Graig and Llangiwg primary schools in 2024 to make way for a 750 pupil superschool for children aged three to 11.
In July, 2019, parents were told at the gates of Godre'r Graig Primary School, Ystalyfera, that it would close immediately due to a landslide risk.
It's now an empty 'ghost school' and ever since, pupils have been educated in temporary classrooms in the grounds of comprehensive, Cwmtawe Community School, in Pontardawe. Parents claim children as young as three have to travel to the school alone by bus and that they have not had a hot school meal there since before Christmas.
Before the audio clip surfaced, parents raised a catalogue of concerns about the school's closure. In December, 2020, parents told WalesOnlne they were "suspicious" of the closure because Godre'r Graig was one of the schools proposed to be knocked down to make way for the amalgamated superschool, which would be built close to Cwmtawe comprehensive school.
Though Godre'r Graig is deemed unsafe by the council following a contracted survey on the land by Earth Science Partnership (ESP), some parents believe the findings have been used to serve Cllr Jones' apparent preference, as heard in the released audio clip, for shutting schools and turning them into more desirable superschools.
The final ESP report published stated that the school was of "medium risk" of landslide, but that the houses either side of the school were considered to have an "unlikely to barely credible" chance of landslide. Previous ESP data showed there was a ‘possible’ likelihood that a landslide could occur under adverse conditions.
It said in the report: "It is difficult to think about any plausible failure scenario (of the mountain having a landslide). However, a single scenario (where the school could potentially be at risk) could be identified after considerable effort... Some probable conditions suggest that instability may not be possible, however, these conditions are unproven and cannot be assumed.
"We consider that a...debris avalanche reaching the school could cause moderate damage to some of the structure, and/or significant part of the site which would require large stabilisation works. Such a consequence is described as medium."
A spokesman for some parents at Godre'r Graig said: "The closure of community schools to make way for a superschool is not what the parents want, it's not want the community wants and then he [Cllr Jones] goes on to say he's going to do it anyway. The job of an elected councillor is to represent the community and the people within it. As leader of the council, he should be ensuring that is the case. If this is a premeditated thought process, it puts the whole of the schools issue into question.
"He clearly states that in his view all schools in Neath Port Talbot would be changed into superschools for three-16-year-olds. As leader of the council he had every opportunity to push this personal and political agenda through without any thought for what the communities need or want and that should be investigated."
Referring to the final ESP report that was published, the spokesman said: "In my mind that document says the landslide risk of the houses left and right of the school is 'unlikely to barely credible' and the school in the middle of it is a medium risk. The repercussions of this, if the audio had not been released, would have been far reaching and financially unbelievable. Three community schools would have been bulldozed and around £22 million pounds of public money (to build the superschool) would have been wasted.
"I speak on behalf of the Friends of Godre'r Graig school and we want a full public inquiry."
The consultation process for the Swansea Valley school proposals – which is discussed in the video – closed on January 19, 2021.
According to Neath Port Talbot Council there will be a delay in issuing the consultation report. However, a spokesman said they were not in a position at this time to confirm when it would be issued.
Rachel Jones, 36, currently has one child in Alltwen primary and her two younger twins are due to start there next year. She has been opposed to the superschool plans since they were first mooted. She claimed it would create an unsafe level of traffic in Pontardawe and would mean her children would have a less personal school experience than in their current community school.
In reaction to the audio, she said: "When I heard that comment about Bethan Sayed, as a woman, I thought 'how dare you' and he said it in a room full of blokes, it was disgusting. But it seems to be that he's using that as the main reason why he's stepping back, but he's ignoring the other things he said in that recording that openly show there is more to it.
"You can hear him saying how he would favour Labour projects over others which aren't necessarily in the best interest of the community. He also refers to the idea that the only option for the [funding behind the project] is to build a new school. This simply isn't true, we've read through the documents that state the money can be used for refurbishment.
"He also talks about selling off the plot of land where the school sits and that doesn't make sense. How can you sell that plot of land if it's too unsafe for the school?
"The language in the audio he uses is so predetermined, the tone was not like 'this is what we're reviewing' it was like 'this is what we're going to do'. I feel that just proves everything we've been suspicious about, that he knows what he was doing and he was planning it and going ahead regardless. My first reaction when I saw the video was I'm not surprised at all, but I was still shocked and upset by the language used."
Another Alltwen primary mum, Kirsten Williams, has similarly been against the superschool plans from the outset.
The 33-year-old claimed: "The audio clearly shows a predetermination by Cllr Rob Jones. If this was something the majority of the community wanted we would be accepting of that. But the audio clearly highlighted that there was a bias in decision making. How can we trust anything that's been said? There should be a full and thorough investigation into all his practices.
"The audio recording clearly highlights a man who controls fundamental decisions, our area. We were never going to be able to compete with that. Their ideas were already decided. I saw the video on the Save our Schools Wales Facebeook page and I felt disbelief. It was both confirmation of what we already believed and disbelief that things like this could really be going on in this day and age.
"We trust the ombudsmen investigation but it is disappointing that it isn't being considered by Mark Drakeford at an audit level. I appreciate this is Welsh Government but a lot of money is involved here. A potential £22 million pounds being spent on a project nobody wants."
LOCAL ISSUES
In the clip Cllr Jones can also be heard saying with regard to decisions on what projects to fund: "I wouldn’t do it overtly but clandestinely – if two Plaid councillors came to me and actually said, 'we want to find money for this, we want to find money for that' and there was a contradictory project that potential Labour councillors wanted: which one am I going to (inaudible) money into?
"I did it up in Ystalyfera where there was a cemetery up on the mountain – I don’t know if you’ve heard this story – Allt y Grug Cemetery – the cemetery was owned by the local church up there and the local vicar...he refused, he didn’t want anything to do with this project. We just did it anyway. What I said to the officers was: 'Go and search down behind the backs of the sofa and cost out how much you could do for the whole road'. He came back and they said it was something like twenty thousand, twenty five thousand. So the long and the short – we put the road in. It took three days to put it in. They have now turned to [the] Labour Party.”
At one point in the audio Cllr Jones can also be heard saying: “Bethan Sayed, the cow that she is.” He said he had given an unreserved apology to Ms Sayed for the remark, which she said was “despicable.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “This matter has been referred to the council’s monitoring officer and the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales has been asked to investigate.”
Cllr Jones referred the matter himself to the chief executive of the local authority and the monitoring officer. He also notified the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, and asked it to investigate.
Mr Jones previously said in a statement : “I have been made aware of a recording being circulated on social media, which was made in 2019 at a private meeting of members of the Labour Party in the Pontardawe area.
“During the two hour meeting, without my knowledge or consent, an individual made an audio recording of discussions surrounding topics such as schools reorganisation, selection of candidates to fight elections, distribution of Labour Party literature, political tactics and opposition party individuals. The final recording has clearly been edited to produce a damning commentary on me.
“The contents of the recording do not reflect the values I hold as an individual or those of the Labour Party, nor do they meet the standards of accountability required of a public representative. During the conversation it can be heard that I made a derogatory remark about a serving MS. I have written to that individual offering an unreserved apology for the statement that I made during this private meeting.
“I have brought the matter to the attention of Neath Port Talbot Council’s chief executive and monitoring officer and have made a self-referral to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, the organisation charged with undertaking investigations of this kind, and invited him to investigate this matter in an impartial capacity.”
He added: “Whilst this investigation is being undertaken I will step back from the role of Leader of Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council in the hope that I will be vindicated, whereupon it will be my intention to once again become the leader of the council. To this end I will await the Ombudsman’s outcome and make no further comment at this time.”
ESP has been contacted for comment..
