Overwhelming opposition to primary school closure plan

Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans to close a primary school have met strong opposition, with the vast majority of respondents rejecting the proposal.

Most people who took part in a consultation on closing Abertillery Learning Community’s (ALC) Roseheyworth primary campus said they were against the move.

At a special meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Labour Cabinet on Friday, April 30, senior councillors will be left on the horns of a dilemma with two options to consider that will decide the fate of Roseheyworth school.

They can either continue the unpopular process of closing the school or find other alternatives to address the financial problem caused by surplus school spaces at ALC.

In February, Cabinet agreed to go to consultation on a proposal to close Roseheyworth at the end of August 2027 in a bid to cut surplus spaces at ALC, an all-through 3–16 school.

This would reduce the all-through school’s capacity from 980 to 770 pupils from September 2027.

During the consultation, which took place between March 2 and April 14, the council received 797 responses, but 46 of these were discounted due to being “duplicate submissions” from the same respondent.

This meant that the council received 751 survey responses to the consultation, with 704 (94 per cent) not supporting the proposal, 33 (four per cent) fully supporting the proposal, and the remaining 14 respondents (two per cent) partially supporting the proposal.

A further breakdown of the results shows that 247 of 255 parents were against the proposal, as were 271 of 284 local residents who gave their views in the consultation.

School governors 

When it came to school governors, four were against the proposal, but three supported it.

The report said: “As expected, the consultation shows significant opposition, particularly from parents, local residents and school-based staff.

“The consultation provided the local authority with extensive qualitative and quantitative feedback from parents/carers, pupils, staff, governors and the wider community.

“The council has reviewed the proposal again against the original reasons for change: declining pupil numbers, sustained surplus capacity, financial sustainability pressures, and the need to maintain a suitable standard of education provision.

“This review has been informed by consultation responses, supporting evidence and further analysis carried out during the consultation period.

“As part of the consultation process, a range of alternative options have been suggested in addition to those already considered.”

These included reducing the physical size or capacity of three primary-phase buildings; using the three campuses as lower, middle and upper phases, including early years and post-16 education; and redistributing pupils across the campuses to achieve a more equitable balance of pupil numbers.

Report 

The report explains that ALC, which has a budget of £11.1 million this year, is currently running a projected deficit of £898,000.

The report said: “If no action is taken, this deficit is expected to increase to £1.7 million by March 31, 2027, and increase significantly to approximately £4 million by 2029/30.

“This proposal will support the school in moving closer to achieving an in-year balanced budget by delivering annual cost reductions of approximately £670,000.

“Over five years, these savings are expected to total around £2.2 million, significantly reducing the deficit.”

The report added: “If the proposal is not taken forward, there will be sustainability issues for ALC; surplus capacity of this scale makes the school financially unsustainable, diverting resources away from learner support.

“By closing one campus, the risk is significantly reduced and will become more manageable for the school and council.”

Dubbed a “super school,” ALC was created in September 2016.

The school came into being following a merger of Roseheyworth Road, Six Bells Road and Tillery Street primary schools, and Abertillery Secondary School.