6. Will the Minister make a statement on the merger of Evenlode Primary School and Bute Cottage Nursery School in Penarth? OQ57893

The objection period for the proposal by the Vale of Glamorgan Council ended on 16 March. In accordance with the school organisation code, the council must consider objections conscientiously alongside arguments in respect of the proposal and determine whether or not to approve the proposal within 16 weeks of that date.

Minister, as part of, obviously, the proposals is a consultation exercise, undertaken by—and I declare an interest as a member of the local authority, the Vale of Glamorgan Council—the council. In this particular case, 238 responses came in to that consultation. Over 70 per cent of those responses were supporting the current status quo and not to change the current dynamic of the two schools. So, what weight, as Minister, would you place on the consultation exercise and in particular any authority, but in this case the Vale of Glamorgan Council, paying due regard to the overwhelming wishes of the community to keep the status quo when it comes to these two important provisions in their community?

As the Member said, the purpose of a consultation is to elicit the views of the public and others in relation to a particular reorganisation proposal, and the school organisation code of course sets out what the council needs to take into account when it receives those consultation responses. As I know that he's aware, proposals which that either approved or rejected by a local authority can then be referred to Welsh Minister for consideration if some limited parties decide to take that step within the 28-day period from the decision. So, given that Ministers have a role in that statutory process, I can't comment specifically on the merits or otherwise of that proposal, but the school organisation code itself is very clear, I think.