Council to launch investigation following claims of shadow-ban on applications for under-threat school

An investigation will be held into allegations that parents were ‘shadow-banned’ from applying for reception places at primary school amid uncertainty over its future.

Liberal Democrat Cllr David Coggins Cogan, who represents Gwernaffield and Gwernymynydd, secured support for a Notice of Motion calling for the inquiry into claims that parents were unable to choose to enrol their children at St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School for September 2026 via Flintshire’s online portal.

St Anthony’s, which has been earmarked by Flintshire County Council and the Diocese of Wrexham for possible closure alongside three other Catholic schools, St David’s Primary in Mold, St Mary’s Primary in Flint and St Richard Gwyn High School.

If approved St Anthony’s will close in September this year while the others will remain open until and a new 3-18 Catholic super-school is built to replace them in Flint.

Numbers falling

“St Anthony’s School in Saltney was a thriving primary school,” said Cllr Coggins Cogan. “The numbers were rising, the roll was rising right up until the point the consultation started. At that point, numbers began to fall.

“Parents who were concerned about the continuity of their children’s education decided to take them from the school and go elsewhere.

“On April 29 last year, at 11.15am, a member of staff at the contact centre told a parent who rang up to enrol their child that ‘there was no point doing it. The school was going to close and the consultation was just a fig leaf’.

“This will not be news to the Education Department because the Education Department have already accepted that this call took place.

“They’ve already replied saying that they were the personal views of the person involved.”

He added: “That was followed up by another parent who wanted to enrol their child, so went to the online portal and struggled to find St Anthony’s in the list. St Anthony’s was no longer on the list. When they emailed in they were told ‘no, we don’t deal with St Anthony’s, it deals with its own admissions’.

“Again, false. This has been accepted by the Education Department and they have apologised.”

“This process does not look fair,” he added. ” It does not look robust and it’s the children of Flintshire who are losing out.”

Show of support

Saltney Cllr Richard Lloyd, a member of the Labour-led coalition Cabinet, supported Cllr Coggins Cogan’s motion.

He said: “Following a meeting that myself and Councillor Jason Shallcross had with parents of St Anthony’s over a year ago, it was brought to our attention that some parents were unable to register their children in either nursery or reception class at St Anthony’s Primary School via the council’s website.

“Another parent was told that the only way to register was to actually ask directly and knock on the door of the school. This does not seem right.

“This may explain why the numbers at the school are now so low and does point to the fact that it may have been done purposely. Whether it was done to run the numbers of the school down I don’t know, I have no proof of that. But I support the notice of motion.”

Claims refuted

Cllr Eastwood refuted the claims, stating St Anthony’s had always been available for parents to choose for this coming September.

“The allegation St Anthony’s was removed from the online portal is unfounded,” she said.

“St Anthony’s has remained continuously visible and selectable on the council’s online admissions portal for all relevant entry years. At no point has the school been removed, hidden or made unavailable.

“No formal complaints or concerns have been raised regarding parents or carers being unable to locate or apply for St Anthony’s through the admissions system.

“The admissions team has received no emails, calls or enquiries to the admissions inbox indicating any difficulty in selecting the school.

“The council has already received a number of valid applications for St Anthony’s for the current admissions round. These applications could not have been submitted had the school been removed or was inaccessible within the system.

“The evidence therefore directly contradicts the claims made within the notice of motion. The admissions portal has operated as expected and applicants have been able to express a preference for St Anthony’s throughout.

“I am advised of one occasion when a respondent spoke with an agent in the council’s contact centre – not the admissions team – and was provided with incorrect information by them regarding Saint Anthony’s.

“This matter was thoroughly investigated at the time and appropriate action taken. I confirmed that the advice given reflected the agent’s personal opinion and not that of the council.

“St Anthony’s remains visible and selectable on the admissions portal, which I checked personally myself yesterday, and applications have been received in this round. ”

Apology requested 

She then called on Cllr Coggins Cogan to apologise for making ‘unfounded allegations’ against the authority’s school admissions team.

Instead, he doubled-down, claiming he could provide evidence for his claims to the Cabinet Member.

“The complaints I referred to here predate yesterday, so whilst the portal was correct yesterday, it was not correct when the parents tried to enrol their children,” he said.

“I have the evidence, the emails from this council informing parents that they should hand their admissions in themselves at St Anthony’s, they can’t do it via the online portal because it’s not there for them.

“Unless we’re going to imply that all the parents who have submitted that evidence are lying, I think as elected representatives, it’s our duty to take it in that good faith.”

Councillors voted 34-17 in favour of the motion to investigate the matter.