Last Tuesday (28 September) the Cabinet met to make the decision as to whether or not the plan too close Gwernyfed HS should be abandoned, even though the decision had already been announced on 1 September, well it is Powys. It was not straight forward, two cabinet members, vociferously argued the closure should go ahead, and also voted against abandoning the closure causing a split vote 7 to 2. Following the meeting Andrew Jones, Chair of Gwernyfed Community Council and who had worked so hard to persuade the 10 Community and 2 Town Councils in the area to unite and support the school, wrote to the Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Education. It is an extremely good letter and I thought you might like to see it and it is below. Andrew makes the point that we will be extremely vigilant to ensure that councillors and officers do not go back on their word and he is right. The people who will be developing new proposals are the same ones who “stabbed our school and communities in the back” and we have to make sure they are held to account. The good news is we are able to defeat the council representatives (we have done so three time since 2009) and they know that too. John Fitzgerald Dear Cllr Jones Gwernyfed Community Council has asked me to write to you to express our extreme relief at the outcome of the consultation into the future of Gwernyfed High School, and the Cabinet’s decision to cancel the planned closure. When you visited Gwernyfed for the momentous public meeting held on 20th April 2016, both you as Portfolio Holder for Education, and Cllr Barry Thomas as Council Leader, were at pains to explain that you had come to listen to the community. Despite some cynicism at the time, we are happy to recognise that these assertions have indeed been borne out by subsequent events. Our thanks are due to you and your Cabinet colleagues for the principled manner in which this issue has been conducted. We must also commend the competence and fair-handedness of the Consultation Report compiled by ORS. GCC is aware that you have reached your decision under very trying circumstances. We are also aware that you may not always have received the best advice from those Senior Officers who were keen to advance the plan to close GHS, yet who were incapable of preparing a business case to the satisfaction of Cardiff Bay, nor of convincing Estyn that their plan held any realistic prospect of improving educational opportunities for the children of Gwernyfed. They appear to have experienced difficulty in understanding the requirements of the SOC, and have consistently attempted to short-cut or circumvent mandatory procedural requirements. GCC is pleased to hear that plans will now be prepared for the much-needed replacement of Brecon School, and even more pleased to hear that provision will be made for securing and improving the fabric of the facilities at Gwernyfed. However, we are bound to reflect that public confidence in PCC's management of education has been very severely damaged. The community remains on high alert to see that all forthcoming proposals are presented in the correct way and follow due procedure. In particular we remark that any such proposals should be subject to consultation from the earliest stages of development. Having watched the podcast of the proceedings of Cabinet today, I believe we can draw some confidence from the remarks of both Cllr Barry Thomas, and Head of Schools Ian Roberts, who stated very clearly their commitment to following due procedure in every respect, and engaging with the community from the formative stage in developing strategy for the improvement and remodelling of schools in the area. We will however remain extremely vigilant towards any components of proposals which have the potential to undermine the long-term viability and independence of GHS. GCC would like to take this opportunity to recognise the outstanding achievement of the Headmaster and all staff at GHS in achieving a historically good set of academic results this year, under the most challenging of circumstances. The people of this area will continue to support the long-term existence of the high school at the heart of our community, and we are delighted that the school has made its own case for its survival in the best way possible. Yours sincerely Andrew Jones Chairman, Gwernyfed Community Council