A FORMAL complaint has been lodged over comments made during a Ceredigion meeting last year over proposed school closures.

Ceredigion County Council Chief Executive Eifion Evans and education chief Barry Rees told the September cabinet meeting that plans to close four north Ceredigion schools had been given ‘a seal of approval’ by the Welsh Government.

Ceredigion County Council launched statutory consultations into plans to close Ysgol Llanfihangel y Creuddyn, Ysgol Craig yr Wylfa, Ysgol Llangwyryfon, and Ysgol Syr John Rhys in August last year.

This was met with fierce opposition from local communities, who packed the council chamber in Penmorfa, Aberaeron, on 3 September to hear the debate.

During the discussions preceding the vote, Barry Rees, Corporate Director of Ceredigion Council, who earns £120,500 annually, said that he had received assurances from the Welsh Government that the proposals within the consultations complied with the Welsh Government’s School Organisation Code.

The Code calls for the presumption of maintaining rural small schools, and that a local authority should only propose to close one “after considering all alternative options.”

Mr Rees told Cabinet members that council officers had a “period of contacting Welsh Government” when drafting the reports on the potential school closures to check “content and the process that was followed.”

“Both of those issues have had a seal of approval by Welsh Government,” he told members.

The line was repeated by the Chief Executive Eifion Evans, who earns £137,000, later in the meeting, saying: “At the end of the day, Welsh Government has given us confirmation that what we are doing is correct.”

However, in a letter seen by the Cambrian News, the Welsh Government has denied providing approval or endorsement.

In a letter to one resident, the Welsh Government says: “From time to time, officials are contacted for advice in relation to potential proposals.“However, any advice provided is on an informal basis and with the understanding that proposers will seek their own legal advice to ensure they are clearly following the relevant steps of the Code.

“I am not sure what lies behind the remarks made at the local authority’s Cabinet meeting; however, I confirm that the Welsh Government does not endorse or approve any potential school reorganisation proposal.”

That decision was reversed at a meeting in December following formal challenges and a row over how the process was carried out.

Now, a formal complaint against Eifion Evans, Barry Rees and monitoring officer, Elin Prysor, has been lodged by a number of Borth residents.

In December, Chairs of governors from four at risk village primary schools in Ceredigion were threatened with being sued for defamation and being removed from their positions by Ceredigion County Council over their call for the authority to launch an independent investigation into allegations that Cabinet members were lied to by council chiefs over whether process was followed in drawing up closure plans.

In a letter sent to Cabinet members ahead of the meeting governing body Chairs Paul Anthony Davies from Ysgol Llanfihangel y Creuddyn; Carol Bainbridge from Ysgol Craig yr Wylfa; Nudd Lewis from Ysgol Llangwyryfon; and Huw Morris from Ysgol Syr John Rhys took aim at Chief Executive Eifion Evans and education chief Barry Rees, who were accused of lying to members by saying the plans had the backing of Welsh Government and called for the pair to be investigated and disciplined.

Ceredigion County Council hit back at the governing body chairs with a legal letter, seen by the Cambrian News, being sent to the four chairs saying their allegations had “served to seriously damage the personal and professional integrity of officers of the Council.”

In a letter from instructed solicitor Mark Powell KC, Ceredigion council’s members warned the quartet that their accusations were “defamatory in nature”, and render them “liable for a claim for substantial damages for defamation.”

“You would not be covered by any insurance cover you might have arising out of your position of Chair of Governors as you, by publishing such unfounded allegations, are acting outside the scope of your role,” the letter warned.

“Indeed, it may be felt that by acting as you have, your suitability to remain as a Governor should be called into question.”“In your letter you request that disciplinary measures are taken against the Officers,” the letter says.

“You are not only calling into question their professional integrity but you are alleging that they should be disciplined and thus that their employment status be put in jeopardy.

“You do this with not a shred of evidence justifying your claim and you must therefore expect that such behaviour will have consequences.

“It is not acceptable for defamatory statements to be made about Council officials by Chairs of Governors who did not bother to check the true position before making false allegations.

“There must be no more repetition of these allegations… to avoid the necessity of a claim for defamation against you.”

Ceredigion County Council said: “ The council does not comment on individual cases.”