Pembrokeshire Council may drop plans to strip Ysgol Cilgerran of religious status

Pembrokeshire County Council may abandon plans to strip the religious status of Ysgol Cilgerran, a Welsh-medium faith primary school in north Pembrokeshire. The council had previously voted in May to remove the school’s Voluntary Controlled (VC) status and establish it as a 3-11 community school, citing a review of surplus school places and declining pupil populations.

The proposal faced significant opposition, with 97 per cent of consultation responses against the change. The Church in Wales formally objected and threatened legal action, alleging “public misrepresentation and unqualified legal assertions” and “discrimination against faith schooling.” Critics also warned that the plan was “fundamentally flawed” because the school’s land is held in trust as a Church of Wales school.

While groups such as Wales Humanists and the National Secular Society supported the council’s original plan, the Roman Catholic Church in Wales joined the Church in Wales in urging the council to drop the proposal. A report scheduled for presentation to councillors on October 15 is expected to recommend dropping the contentious plans.