The Welsh Government's Cabinet Secretary for Education has denied that a Ceredigion County Council chief received a “seal of approval” from the Government when drawing up proposals to close four of the county's rural Welsh schools.

During a long, tense meeting of the council’s Cabinet on 3 September, members voted to hold a statutory consultation on proposals to close Ysgol Llangwyryfon, Ysgol Craig-yr-Wylfa, Ysgol Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn, and Ysgol Syr John Rhys in Ponterwyd despite widespread objections from parents, communities and campaign groups.

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.

Shortly after the vote, Welsh language campaigners Cymdeithas yr Iaith sent a complaint to Lynne Neagle, the Welsh Government's Cabinet Secretary for Education over the local authority's compliance with the Code, as well as a freedom of information request to verify Mr Rees’ claim.

In their freedom of information request, they asked to see any correspondence or meeting notes between Ceredigion Council and the Welsh Government that might have given the council the impression that the Government approved their compliance with the Code.

The only relevant comment received back from the request was that an unnamed Welsh Government official said in an email to Barry Rees: “Please note that these are personal points and I cant [sic] make any legal comments; I've only been able to have a quick look but hope this helps.”

In a letter responding to Cymdeithas yr Iaith's complaint, Lynne Neagle said: "I am not sure what is behind the comments made at the local authority Cabinet meeting; however, I can confirm that the Welsh Government does not certify or approve any possible proposal to reorganise schools."

Ffred Ffransis, from Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s Education Group, said: “What was said by this officer is not a solid basis for the director to state to the Cabinet that the Welsh Government has approved their process of drawing up proposals to close the schools and, without this intervention and assurance, it is very possible that the majority of council members would not have been willing to start a formal consultation their closure."

Despite the criticism of the officer, the Education Secretary did not directly answer Cymdeithas yr Iaith's basic complaint that Ceredigion Council had broken the Code.

Ceredigion County Council argues that the low pupil numbers and surplus places at the four schools do not fit with its latest plan for school re-organisation.

Barry Rees, received an MBE (Member of the British Empire) from the Queen Elizabeth II in 2020 for his part in setting up a local test and trace system in Ceredigion at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and the county’s overall approach in 2020.