LLANGENNECH: Plaid Cymru take council seat from Reform in by-election

Plaid Cymru have taken the Llangennech seat on Carmarthenshire County Council from Reform UK in a by-election.

Plaid’s Iwan Griffiths won Thursday’s vote with 483 votes, a 41.4% share.

Labour’s Jordan Sargent came second on 338 votes (28.9%), with Reform UK’s Gavin Rashbrook third on 283 (24.2%).

The Conservatives’ Craig Griffiths took 38 votes, independent Sean Hogan 11, the Green Party’s Michael Willis eight and the Liberal Democrats’ Justin Griffiths seven.

Turnout was 28.1%, with 1,168 votes cast.

The result is a gain for Plaid Cymru, which now leads the Welsh Government, and a loss for Reform UK, the official opposition in the Senedd.

It marks a swift turnaround in the ward. Reform had only gained the seat last August, when Carmelo Colasanto won a by-election there with 694 votes.

That contest followed the death of long-serving Labour councillor Gary Jones, who had held the seat since 2022.

Notably, Reform won the seat last year on a turnout of 39.4% — well above the 28.1% who voted on Thursday.

Plaid’s vote held broadly steady between the two contests, slipping only slightly from 489 to 483. Reform’s fell from 694 to 283, and Labour’s from 380 to 338.

Colasanto went on to be elected to the Senedd for Sir Gaerfyrddin on 7 May, as Reform and Plaid took three of the constituency’s seats each.

Under the rules, he was required to give up his council seat on being elected to the Senedd — triggering Thursday’s by-election.

The vote was one of several held across Wales on the same day in seats vacated by councillors who had moved up to the Senedd.

It also caps an eventful month of by-elections closer to home.

Last week, Reform fell short in two Swansea contests, as the Conservatives took Mumbles and Labour held Morriston by 86 votes.

Reform UK had been widely seen as gaining ground across south-west Wales, having taken two Carmarthenshire seats from Labour in the Llanelli area within three months last year.

The party’s strong showing in the May Senedd election, when it won three Sir Gaerfyrddin seats, had added to that momentum.

The Llangennech result leaves Reform without the council seat it gained less than a year ago.

Carmarthenshire County Council’s next full elections are due in 2027.

FREE SCHOOL MEALS: £15m to extend support to more Swansea Bay secondary pupils from September

More secondary school pupils across Swansea Bay and Carmarthenshire are set to qualify for free school meals, under a £15m Welsh Government investment confirmed today.

The money will begin removing the strict income limit that currently shuts many families out, even when they are on Universal Credit.

At present, a secondary pupil only qualifies for free school meals if their family receives Universal Credit and earns less than £7,400 a year, excluding benefits.

The new funding starts the work of scrapping that cap, so that any secondary-age child in a household on Universal Credit can qualify, regardless of household income.

The change will be rolled out from September, starting with pupils in Years 7 and 8, whose parents will be able to apply for the new scheme.

The £15m is split into £10m of capital funding — to upgrade school kitchens and dining areas — and £5m to introduce and run the expanded scheme.

It forms part of the Welsh Government’s supplementary budget for 2026-27, due to be published on 23 June.

The move builds on the rollout of free school meals to all primary school children in Wales, which was delivered under the 2021 to 2024 co-operation agreement between the then Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.

Education Minister Anna Brychan said the funding marked the first step in a wider commitment to extend the meals to more secondary pupils.

“This funding marks the first step in our commitment to extend free school meals to more secondary pupils, ensuring that support reaches families who need it most,” she said.

“By starting to invest, we are laying the foundations for a fair and sustainable expansion that will make a real difference in pupils’ daily lives.”

She said the policy was about removing barriers to learning, adding that access to nutritious food improved concentration, attainment and health.

“Building on the success of universal primary free school meals, we will ensure that as children move into secondary education those who need it most will continue to receive the support they need to thrive,” she said.

First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth said extending eligibility was an important step in tackling child poverty and reducing inequality across Wales.

“Starting this work is a key aspect of our 100 Day Plan and beyond — taking practical action by putting money back into families’ pockets and ensuring every young person has the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their background,” he said.

The expansion comes against a backdrop of stubbornly high child poverty in the region, with around one in four children in Swansea estimated to be growing up in poverty.

The Welsh Government said it was working with partners to deliver the scheme “at pace”, with further details promised shortly.

For families across the region, the practical question will be how and when to apply — with the first applications, for Years 7 and 8, expected to open in the autumn term.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Free school meals rolled out to all primary pupils in Wales
The earlier expansion this £15m secondary-school investment builds on.

Welsh Government pumps £55m into funded childcare
The new government’s earlier move to put money back into families’ pockets.

One in four Swansea kids in poverty
The scale of child poverty the latest measures are aimed at tackling.

#Senedd members storm out as #Reform ‘joke’ about #Welsh kids’ reading

Welsh politicians in the Senedd staged a walk out after a #ReformUK MS claimed Welsh students “couldn’t read” and Indian nurses were taking Welsh jobs.

Members from #PlaidCymru, #Labour and the #Greens all stormed out after Martin made the claims in a speech in the chamber on Wednesday.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/26206846.senedd-members-storm-reform-joke-welsh-kids-reading/

#fascism #racism #nasty #evil #ReformPropaganda

SWANSEA: Council leader rules out suing new Welsh Government over city-centre offices deal — as a revived WDA could hold the key

Construction of the office building — known as Block B, the first phase of the new public sector hub being built as the council’s new home at the former St David’s site — is due to step up within weeks, with work starting on site in July and completion targeted for early 2028.

But a key question still hangs over it: who, beyond the council itself, will fill it.

The deal that was signed — then left in limbo

The council and the previous Labour-led Welsh Government exchanged letters of intent before the Senedd election to bring Welsh Government staff into the new hub.

The proposal centred on relocating staff from the government’s offices near junction 47 of the M4 at Penllergaer — where average daily attendance was running at just 10% in early 2025 — into the city centre, with the council potentially taking on the Penllergaer building in return.

Then the election came, Plaid Cymru took power, and the new administration said it would review its office estate before committing to anything.

That left the council waiting to find out whether the deal would survive the change of government.

‘It would be ill-advised’

Pressed at a scrutiny panel this week on whether the council could hold the new government to the letter of intent, leader Rob Stewart was blunt about the idea of legal action.

He said it would be “ill-advised” for the council’s first dealing with the new administration to be taking it to court — particularly when the two sides had yet to even meet.

Stewart said he was due to meet Adam Price — the new government’s economy minister, who holds the enterprise and energy brief — in due course, in both his role as council leader and as deputy leader of the Welsh Local Government Association, where he speaks on the economy and energy. He hoped to open “productive discussions” with Cardiff.

He argued the new government was reasonably taking time to review its position, but stressed the letter of intent still stood.

Notably, he pointed out that the officials advising on the technical detail were the same under both administrations — so he hoped the advice given to the previous government would be “consistent” with what the new ministers were now told.

The WDA twist

The more intriguing possibility raised at the meeting was that the new government’s own plans could end up helping fill the disputed building.

Plaid has spoken of wanting to see “some form of WDA” — a revived version of the Welsh Development Agency, the economic body abolished in 2006.

There is a neat irony in that. The Penllergaer offices at the heart of the proposed swap were originally built for the WDA, and were never fully occupied after the agency was wound up.

Stewart said he had always believed such functions should be regionally based, and that he would press the case for a revived WDA — or at least part of it — to be located in Swansea, ideally in the city centre, where he argued it would have more economic impact than an out-of-town site.

As economy minister, Adam Price would be central to any such decision.

Why it matters

For Swansea, the stakes are straightforward: hundreds of public sector workers in the city centre would mean daily footfall for shops, cafés and businesses at a time when the centre is being remade around them.

The council’s own move into the hub is already locked in, driven by its planned exit from the ageing seafront Civic Centre, which secured a £20m UK Government funding boost for its own redevelopment earlier this year.

What remains unresolved is how much more of the new building will be brought to life — and whether a deal struck under one government survives under another.

A meeting between the council leader and the new economy minister is expected to be the next step.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Labour signed a deal to move Welsh Government offices to the city centre
Plaid Cymru has so far declined to confirm whether it will honour the pre-election agreement.

Major Swansea office scheme set for step forward
Plans for the new public sector hub on the former St David’s site moved closer.

£20m boost for Swansea Civic Centre
UK Government funding confirmed for the redevelopment of the seafront site the council is leaving.

Giant distribution warehouse approved next to M4 at Penllergaer
A major last-mile delivery hub raises fresh questions over Junction 47 capacity.

MOBILE PHONES: Welsh Government to crack down on classroom phone use as 8 in 10 school staff back tougher rules

Education Minister Anna Brychan says she “fully supports” headteachers who want to restrict phones across the whole school site, as new research reveals the scale of teacher frustration.

Mobile phones in Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire classrooms face a fresh clampdown, after the Welsh Government confirmed it will issue new statutory guidance on how schools handle them during the school day.

The move comes as a survey of the education workforce found more than eight in 10 staff want ministers to go further and bring in statutory restrictions on pupils using phones.

Anna Brychan, the Plaid Cymru Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language, said she had “listened to the calls for stronger clarity” on the issue.

The guidance will set out clear national expectations for how phones are used within the school day. It will be evaluated over the coming school year, with the option to toughen it further if needed.

Ms Brychan, who represents Caerdydd Penarth in the Senedd, went further in backing schools that want to act now.

“I fully support — and strongly encourage — headteachers to introduce clear and robust restrictions on mobile phone use during the school day, up to and including a full restriction across the school site,” she said.

She added that some children would always need exceptions, for medical reasons for example.

The announcement lands the day after the UK Government unveiled plans to block under-16s from social media apps, a proposal that has already sparked heated debate among parents across the area.

The statutory guidance was shaped by a survey of teachers, senior leaders and support staff carried out earlier this year. In total, 410 people responded from across Wales, including 53 from Swansea, 11 from Carmarthenshire and five from Neath Port Talbot.

The findings paint a picture of schools already cracking down, but doing so in wildly different ways.

Two-thirds of those who replied (66.3%) said their school had a formal written phone policy. The most common approach was to allow phones on site but ban their use during the school day, reported by just under half of respondents.

But enforcement was patchy. While 55.7% said their policy was applied very or mostly consistently, the rest admitted it was only somewhat consistent, or worse.

Staff overwhelmingly backed tighter rules. More than eight in 10 (82%) said the Welsh Government should bring in statutory restrictions, rather than leave decisions to individual schools.

Many said the same thing in their own words: that a single national rule would end the confusion and arguments caused by every school doing something different.

“If everyone has the same policy then kids can’t complain,” one respondent said. “Parents and pupils would understand where they stand.”

Teachers reported real benefits from existing restrictions. Around three-quarters (74.6%) said their approach had cut distraction in lessons, while a majority pointed to better behaviour, less bullying and improved pupil wellbeing.

The picture was more mixed on staff workload. Almost one in five (18.5%) said managing phones had actually made their jobs harder, through rule-related conflict and the admin of collecting and storing devices.

The biggest headache was getting pupils on side. More than half (54.1%) said limited support from students was a challenge when putting their approach into practice, and a similar number cited inconsistent enforcement.

Researchers stressed the survey was open to anyone in the education workforce who wanted to take part, so the results are not a statistically representative snapshot of every teacher in Wales.

Responsibility for phone rules currently sits with individual schools and governing bodies, with headteachers free to restrict or ban devices under their behaviour policies.

That is the system ministers now want to wrap tighter national expectations around, stopping short of the outright Wales-wide ban the First Minister ruled out last month.

The debate has been building locally for months, with a packed public meeting in Swansea hearing parents’ fears about social media, and the city’s MP calling an emergency meeting on the issue.

The new guidance is expected to be in place for schools ahead of the next academic year.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

School phones: First Minister rules out Wales-wide ban
Plaid Cymru leaves the decision to individual schools as Swansea parents debate the issue.

Under-16s to be blocked from social media apps — what it means for Welsh teens
The UK Government’s plan to bar under-16s from popular platforms, explained.

Packed Swansea meeting hears parents’ fears about social media
Hundreds turn out as a public meeting debates technology’s impact on childhood.

Swansea MP calls emergency public meeting on social media ban
Torsten Bell says the issue tops his postbag.

PUPPY BREEDING: Carmarthenshire still Wales’ biggest hot spot — but investigations fall as RSPCA urges new law review

Carmarthenshire remains the biggest hot spot in Wales for dog breeding investigations, new figures show — even as the county’s own numbers fell.

The data, gathered by RSPCA Cymru through Freedom of Information requests, shows councils across Wales carried out 210 breeding-related investigations in 2025, up from 144 the year before.

That is a 46% rise across the nation in a single year.

Carmarthenshire recorded 46 of those investigations — more than any other Welsh council.

But the county’s figure was down from 59 in 2024, and its prosecutions fell from 12 to just three.

Councils are responsible for licensing dog breeding businesses and checking they meet welfare conditions, as well as for tackling illegal breeding.

An investigation does not necessarily mean wrongdoing, as councils look into complaints from the public that may not be upheld.

The charity has long described Carmarthenshire as one of the UK’s hot spots for dog breeding activity.

Neighbouring councils on patch also reported activity, with Neath Port Talbot’s investigations more than doubling from eight to 18, and Swansea recording 25.

Ceredigion matched Carmarthenshire’s wider profile with 39 investigations, level with the previous year.

Across Wales, prosecutions actually fell despite the rise in investigations — down from 19 in 2024 to seven last year.

Billie-Jade Thomas, senior public affairs manager for RSPCA Cymru, said it was encouraging to see councils investigating complaints from the public.

She said the drop in prosecutions could point to improvement, as many councils now take an advice-led approach and some 2025 cases would still be working through the courts.

“However, we always fear there are many underground sellers undertaking irresponsible breeding practices and providing poor care behind closed doors,” she said.

The figures follow a major review of dog breeding licensing in Carmarthenshire, which the council’s Cabinet backed last year.

That review recommended working more closely with local vets, improving public awareness, and exploring a compulsory scoring system for licensed breeders.

It also made recommendations at a national level, including a review of the current law, a centralised microchipping database and a national scoring system for breeders.

The RSPCA is now urging the new Welsh Government to act on those national recommendations and commit to reviewing the country’s dog breeding laws.

Current rules, introduced in 2015, require anyone keeping three or more breeding bitches or breeding three or more litters a year and selling them to hold a council licence.

The charity argues the scale of breeding in Wales, and the age of the legislation, mean the rules now need revisiting.

In its election manifesto, Plaid Cymru — now leading the Welsh Government — pledged to promote responsible pet ownership and breeding and to publish a new Animal Health and Welfare Plan.

Cllr Aled Vaughan Owen, Carmarthenshire’s cabinet member with responsibility for Trading Standards, said the council remained committed to tackling illegal dog breeding.

He said the authority worked with local vets, licensed breeders and the public to raise awareness, “always placing animal welfare at the forefront of our actions.”

He added that the council was “open and willing to engage with any national review of dog breeding regulations should the Welsh Government decide to advance that recommendation.”

Anyone concerned about a breach of licensing rules can contact their local council, while dog welfare concerns can be reported to the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Crackdown on Carmarthenshire puppy farms sparks call for national dog breeding law overhaul
The council review and RSPCA call that this year’s figures follow up.

Kidwelly puppy farm family ordered to pay £129k after illegal breeding crackdown
One of the county’s largest recent illegal breeding prosecutions.

Llandysul man admits part in illegal dog breeding racket
A wider West Wales case showing the scale of unlicensed breeding.

Unlicensed dog breeders have over £80,000 confiscated from illegal puppy sales
Three Carmarthenshire breeders stripped of illegal profits.

FUNDED CHILDCARE: Swansea families set to benefit as Welsh Government pumps £55m into expansion

Hundreds more two-year-olds across Wales will get funded childcare under a new cash injection — with Swansea already among the first areas to offer it.

Hundreds more families across Wales are in line for funded childcare after the Welsh Government announced a £55 million investment.

The money will speed up the rollout of 12.5 hours of funded childcare a week for all two-year-olds, delivered through councils including in Swansea.

Swansea was the second area in Wales to offer the scheme to every two-year-old, after Merthyr Tydfil, with Newport following soon after.

Wrexham has now joined that list, becoming the first North Wales authority to reach the milestone.

The £55m forms part of the Welsh Government’s First Supplementary Budget for 2026-27.

It includes £10m of capital funding to expand and improve childcare settings, aimed at boosting the quality and number of places available.

Ministers say the cash will help providers manage rising demand and stay afloat financially, while also supporting Welsh-medium childcare.

That ties into the long-standing target of reaching one million Welsh speakers by 2050.

The investment is a step towards the government’s wider promise of 20 hours of funded care a week for every child aged nine months to four years old.

At full rollout, ministers claim that offer will be the most generous anywhere in the UK.

Sioned Williams, the Plaid Cymru Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Minister for Social Justice and Equality, who holds the childcare brief, said the move showed the government was “accelerating our commitments to the families of Wales.”

“Childcare costs in Wales are the highest in the UK and I am determined to help families all over Wales, while also supporting children’s development,” she said.

She added that she was “particularly pleased” Wrexham was now expanding its offer, and that the government would keep working with councils to roll it out everywhere.

Research by Coram Family and Childcare last year found Wales had the highest holiday childcare costs of the British nations, lending weight to her claim.

A new expert steering group will advise on the next stages of the rollout, focusing on training enough staff, digital applications and improving access for families.

The funding lands just days after the policy behind it caused chaos in the Senedd.

Reform UK tabled a debate on 11 June demanding the new Plaid government publish full costings and a timetable for its childcare offer within its first 100 days.

But the motion was amended to point out that Reform’s own election manifesto contained no childcare commitments — and in a tangle that drew mockery, 11 Reform members ended up voting for the amended motion attacking their own party.

Reform has claimed the full childcare offer could cost between £388m and £710m a year, well above the roughly £400m figure Plaid has cited.

The latest announcement also marks a change of guard, with funded childcare milestones celebrated earlier this year by the then Labour government’s children’s minister, Dawn Bowden.

Welsh Labour lost power to Plaid Cymru at May’s Senedd election and now sits in opposition.

The party gave the funding a cautious welcome.

Lynne Neagle, Welsh Labour’s spokesperson for children, education and lifelong learning, welcomed the news that Wrexham would offer free childcare to all two-year-olds, and said she hoped more councils would follow.

She said the previous Welsh Labour government had worked to expand Flying Start provision across Wales, and that it was “great to see the government commit to our manifesto pledge and continue this work.”

But she said questions remained. “We await further information on the government’s supplementary budget, but as it stands there are still many unanswered questions around the funding commitments,” she said.

Flying Start is the Welsh Government’s flagship early-years programme, offering childcare, parenting support and health visiting to families with young children.

Funded childcare for two-year-olds is being expanded in phases, with the latest cash intended to widen access ahead of the next academic year.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Swansea becomes second area in Wales to offer Flying Start childcare to all two-year-olds
How the city reached the milestone in February.

Reform members split in childcare row as Plaid policy ‘could cost £710m’
The Senedd debate that descended into confusion.

South west Wales politicians take key roles in first Plaid Cymru cabinet
How Sioned Williams became Deputy First Minister.

Free childcare scheme to expand across Swansea says council
What the funded hours mean for two- and three-year-olds in the city.

137 MPs, from #UKLabour, #LiberalDemocrat, #Greens, #PlaidCymru, #SNP and #SDLP, have signed a motion calling for the #EHRC guidance on #Trans people using single sex spaces to be overruled.

If your MP is on this list, write and thank them; if yours isn't, urge them to sign.

https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/65938/draft-code-of-practice-on-services-public-functions-and-associations#tab-supporters

LLANELLI: MP pleads with Plaid government to honour £27m promise for new special school

Llanelli’s MP has urged the new Plaid-led Welsh Government to “honour” a £27m commitment for a long-promised new special school in the town.

Dame Nia Griffith says repeated delays to the £35m Ysgol Heol Goffa project have caused “huge consternation and anxiety” for current pupils, parents and families still waiting for a place.

She has written to Anna Brychan MS, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Welsh Language, calling on her to give “early and full support” by committing to match-funding of 75 per cent for the school.

That figure matters. The usual Welsh Government contribution for a project like this is 65 per cent.

The previous Labour education minister, Lynn Neagle, had confirmed the new school would be eligible for the higher 75 per cent rate — subject to a satisfactory business case.

Dame Nia is now pressing the new Plaid administration to commit to that figure in full, rather than let it slip back to the standard rate.

Her intervention raises the stakes in a funding row that erupted at County Hall last week.

At a full meeting of Carmarthenshire County Council, Labour group leader councillor Deryk Cundy asked whether the authority’s 25 per cent share — roughly £9m — had been “ring-fenced” for the new school.

Plaid’s cabinet member for education, councillor Glynog Davies, replied: “It hasn’t been, well not yet.”

That answer angered Labour councillors, who pointed out that in December councillor Davies had told the same chamber the money “has been ring-fenced”.

“Which version of Glynog Davies’s answers are we, and the school community, to believe?” councillor Cundy said after the meeting.

He accused the administration of “dragging its heels”, asking why a business case would take 15 months when an independent report had already set out that the school needed to be expanded to meet legal requirements.

Lliedi councillor Shaun Greaney, a prominent campaigner for the school, said it was “disgraceful” that councillor Davies was now casting himself as its champion.

He said more than 9,000 people had signed a petition for a new school after what campaigners called Plaid’s “broken promises”, and accused the party of trying to “pull the wool over people’s eyes”.

Councillor Davies has firmly rejected that account. He has accused Labour of causing “unnecessary distress” and misrepresenting the process “for cheap political purposes”, insisting there is “no intention to pull out now”.

He has said the funding depends on a business case that has yet to be completed, and that the council is pressing ahead with plans for a larger school near Ysgol Penrhos.

A formal consultation on the £35m rebuild opened earlier this month, with responses running until 21 July, and the school earmarked to open in 2029.

The Welsh Government has been asked to confirm whether it will commit to the 75 per cent funding rate.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

HEOL GOFFA ROW: Plaid accuses Labour of causing ‘unnecessary distress’ over special school claims
Carmarthenshire’s education cabinet member hit back at Labour’s “£35m black hole” claims, calling them unfounded.

LLANELLI: ‘£35m black hole’ row erupts over Ysgol Heol Goffa funding
A council meeting revealed the money behind the £35m plans is not yet signed off.

LLANELLI: Consultation opens on £35m Ysgol Heol Goffa rebuild
The formal process is under way at last, with responses open until 21 July.

LLANELLI: £35m new Ysgol Heol Goffa to open in 2029 — but funding question hangs over Plaid government
The project cleared a major hurdle, but councillors want Welsh Government funding protected.

HEOL GOFFA ROW: Plaid accuses Labour of causing ‘unnecessary distress’ over special school claims

Plaid Cymru’s education cabinet member has accused Labour councillors in Llanelli of causing “unnecessary alarm and distress” to parents and staff at Ysgol Heol Goffa — escalating the row over funding for the town’s promised £35m special school.

The row erupted after Wednesday’s full council meeting, when Labour claimed a “£35m black hole” sat beneath the plans after Cllr Glynog Davies confirmed funding for the project had not yet been formally committed by either the council or the Welsh Government.

In a statement issued on Friday, Cllr Davies branded the Labour claims “unfounded” — and said the suggestion that the new school may not go ahead was an insinuation made for political ends.

“They obviously don’t understand, or choose to misrepresent the process, for cheap political purposes,” he said.

“Work on designing the larger 150 pupil school on a new site is well advanced, so I can assure parents, staff and learners that there is no intention to pull out now. Changing government in Cardiff has no bearing on this, because government funding depends on presenting the full business case, which will happen shortly.”

The cabinet member reserved his sharpest words for Llanelli Labour town councillor Shaun Greaney — a longstanding campaigner on the school — over what Cllr Davies said was an accusation that Plaid councillors had “an old-fashioned attitude to children with special needs”.

“It’s quite shocking that Cllr Shaun Greaney, who seems to live in a constant state of outrage, should accuse Plaid councillors of having ‘an old-fashioned attitude to children with special needs’,” he said. “Moving ahead with a larger new school, costing tens of millions of pounds, disproves his allegations.”

And he linked Labour’s attacks to the party’s performance in last month’s Senedd election: “I appreciate that Labour must be in trauma after their devastating losses in the Senedd elections, but for them to cause unnecessary distress on this issue is reprehensible.”

Labour’s claims followed the chamber exchange in which Cllr Davies confirmed funding had not yet been signed off. Labour opposition group leader Cllr Deryk Cundy said afterwards: “Clearly, despite all the public fanfares, no money has been actually committed to the new Ysgol Heol Goffa. My biggest fear is that Plaid will claim again — at some point in the future — that it doesn’t have enough money to proceed with the new school, as they have in the past.”

Cllr Greaney had said the school community would be “devastated” if the funding position set out in the chamber was correct — adding: “Personally, I think they are a disgrace and should all resign.”

Under the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning programme, the council would pay a quarter of the cost of the new school with the government contributing 75 per cent — but the government’s share is only confirmed once the council submits a full business case, which Cllr Davies says “will happen shortly”.

The school for pupils with additional learning needs was first promised a replacement building a decade ago. The council scrapped the previous plans in May 2024 citing rising costs — prompting a petition of more than 9,000 signatures — before re-committing in 2025 to a £35m, 150-place school near Ysgol Pen Rhos, with a planned opening of September 2029.

The formal consultation on the proposals is open until Tuesday 21 July.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

LLANELLI: ‘£35m black hole’ row erupts over Ysgol Heol Goffa funding — days after consultation opens
The full council exchange — and what it means for families.

LLANELLI: Consultation opens on £35m Ysgol Heol Goffa rebuild — two years after council scrapped the last one
How to have your say on the proposals.

LLANELLI: £35m new Ysgol Heol Goffa to open in 2029 after years of uncertainty — but funding question hangs over Plaid Cymru government
Our report from May on the school’s long road to approval.