Gwent has 15,000 spare school places (From South Wales Argus)

Gwent has 15,000 spare school places

10:40am Monday 30th November 2009

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GWENT has more than 15,000 surplus school places, new figures obtained by the Argus show today.

According to the latest figures from the five councils across Gwent, there are a total of 15,059 spare places.

This equates to 10,520 spare places in primary schools and 4,539 surplus places in secondary schools.

This is a rise of almost 11 percent on the previous year when there were 9,301 surplus places in primary schools and 4,289 in secondary - a total of 13,590.

Caerphilly council said the increase in its surplus places in primaries was due to the opening of Ysgol Penalltau, in Caerphilly, a 400 place school which opened in September and has 203 spare places, which are expected to be filled over the next few years.

Newport was the only council to have over-subscribed schools, rising from 17 above its secondary capacity last year to 118 over this year.

Every authority had an increase in surplus places in primary schools, with the biggest rise coming in Monmouthshire - a 26 percent jump from 1,158 spare places to 1,462.

Newport was not far behind with a 22 percent increase from 1,578 to 1,935.

Torfaen's increase was less than one percent, rising from 1,402 spaces to 1,412.

Blaenau Gwent rose from 1,578 to 1,689 and Caerphilly's climbed from 3,585 to 4,022.

Newport had a 200-pupil capacity increase in primary schools, which came from the opening of Ysgol Gymraeg Ifor Hael in September 2008.

Some councils reported a slight fluctuation in their capacities, which was attributed to changes in classrooms and the number of pupils who could be taught in them.

Surplus school places have endangered several schools across Gwent recently.

Decision on whether to close Nantyglo Secondary school will be made by education minister Jane Hutt in the spring.

This follows a unanimous decision by Blaenau Gwent council’s executive committee to close the school, based on the fact it has around 45 per cent in surplus places, with only 445 pupils going to a school with a capacity of more than 800.

Blaenau Gwent council said numbers in primary schools have dropped a third in 13 years, which is now having a knock-on effect on secondary schools, adding the Assembly has warned running more schools than needed means each school gets a smaller chunk if the budget.

Tredegar Central and West councillor, Haydn Trollope, said closing schools should not be a knee-jerk reaction as Blaenau Gwent doesn't have transport in place to let pupils travel across the borough to get to different schools.

He added: "I think it's not a case of wasting money keeping them open, I think they should be looked at on their merits."

Govilon and Llanover Primary Schools in Monmouthshire also have the threat of closure looming over them, with the decision on their future to be made early next year.

The proposals were put forward by the council to tackle surplus places in the borough Govilon has 29 pupils out of a possible 114, Llanover School can take 58 pupils, but has just 23.

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