Latest news with #HuwMurphy
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Pembrokeshire deputy council leader survives no confidence vote
A deputy leader in a council has survived a vote of no confidence after a row about Welsh medium education in the Miller, deputy leader of Pembrokeshire council, previously said that parents "couldn't give a toss" if their children went to a Welsh-language school in a town in south-west councillors supported the motion by Independent group leader, Huw Murphy, with 28 voting against and 11 leader Jon Harvey accused Cllr Murphy of "political opportunism at its worse." Former council leader Jamie Adams said Miller gave the impression that he "knew better than everybody else" and called on him to apologise for the language used during the cabinet response, Miller said it was "sensible to collect data" about the school choices made by parents, adding that Murphy was creating also said Pembrokeshire had delivered the largest percentage growth in Welsh medium education of all the group leader Di Clements criticised the decision to hold the meeting in the first said the councillors would have been better off "finding ways of dealing with the huge financial black hole" rather than seeing who "has the biggest ego in the chamber." It comes after the Welsh government passed a major new bill to boost the number of pupils studying in Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill aims to close the gap in Welsh speaking ability among pupils from different Language Secretary Mark Drakeford described the bill as "historic" adding that schools do not currently get enough from the investment made to teach Welsh in English-medium bill aims to make progress towards the 2050 target of a million Welsh speakers by strengthening the role of the language in education.
Pembrokeshire Herald
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Pembrokeshire Herald
Milford Haven Buffaloes thank Waterloo Club for support
New pledge to gather school choice data from all parents — not just those choosing Welsh-medium education PEMBROKESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL has revised its position following mounting criticism over its handling of Welsh-medium education policy, agreeing to broaden the scope of its planned parental survey. The move comes after a political and public backlash to comments made during the Council Cabinet's April meeting, where Deputy Leader Paul Miller suggested that some parents were choosing Welsh-medium schools not for the language but for newer facilities. His remarks, and the nature of the Cabinet debate, drew sharp criticism from opposition leader Cllr Huw Murphy, the Welsh Language Commissioner, and Cabinet Secretary for the Welsh Language and Culture, Mark Drakeford. Critics accused the Cabinet of taking an 'anti-Welsh' tone and of singling out parents who chose Welsh-medium education. The row escalated after Mr Drakeford told BBC Cymru: 'I can't see why we would ask parents why they choose Welsh or why they choose English… Local authorities should be making the case for choosing Welsh-medium education, not questioning those who do.' Now, in an apparent attempt to address those concerns and reset the debate, the Council has issued a fresh statement following its Cabinet meeting on Wednesday (May 21). It confirms that data collection will be considered for all parents, not just those opting for Welsh-medium education. A Council spokesperson said: 'Cabinet has today agreed to explore the collection of information from all parents, regardless of language preference, in order to better understand school choice across the county.' The updated resolution now asks the Director of Education to explore methods for capturing data on the relative importance of different factors influencing school choice. These include language preference, learning outcomes, quality of facilities, transport provision, and support for pupils with Additional Learning Needs (ALN). The Council says the data will help inform future decisions on modernising the school estate, ensuring they reflect the priorities of a broad and representative sample of parents. Despite the softened stance, the issue remains politically sensitive. Cllr Huw Murphy, whose formal 'call-in' prompted the Council to revisit its earlier decision, has argued that any perception of bias against Welsh-medium provision risks undermining public trust and the Council's obligations under the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP). The Welsh Language Commissioner had also expressed concern over the original approach, stating that questioning only parents choosing Welsh-medium schools was 'not compatible' with the Council's statutory duties. The revised position may go some way toward cooling tensions, but the debate has already highlighted deeper divisions over language policy, school choice, and how local authorities should approach data collection in the context of bilingual education. The Herald will continue to follow developments closely as the Council works through the next phase of its data-gathering plans.
Pembrokeshire Herald
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Pembrokeshire Herald
Council shifts stance after backlash over Welsh education survey
New pledge to gather school choice data from all parents — not just those choosing Welsh-medium education PEMBROKESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL has revised its position following mounting criticism over its handling of Welsh-medium education policy, agreeing to broaden the scope of its planned parental survey. The move comes after a political and public backlash to comments made during the Council Cabinet's April meeting, where Deputy Leader Paul Miller suggested that some parents were choosing Welsh-medium schools not for the language but for newer facilities. His remarks, and the nature of the Cabinet debate, drew sharp criticism from opposition leader Cllr Huw Murphy, the Welsh Language Commissioner, and Cabinet Secretary for the Welsh Language and Culture, Mark Drakeford. Critics accused the Cabinet of taking an 'anti-Welsh' tone and of singling out parents who chose Welsh-medium education. The row escalated after Mr Drakeford told BBC Cymru: 'I can't see why we would ask parents why they choose Welsh or why they choose English… Local authorities should be making the case for choosing Welsh-medium education, not questioning those who do.' Now, in an apparent attempt to address those concerns and reset the debate, the Council has issued a fresh statement following its Cabinet meeting on Wednesday (May 21). It confirms that data collection will be considered for all parents, not just those opting for Welsh-medium education. A Council spokesperson said: 'Cabinet has today agreed to explore the collection of information from all parents, regardless of language preference, in order to better understand school choice across the county.' The updated resolution now asks the Director of Education to explore methods for capturing data on the relative importance of different factors influencing school choice. These include language preference, learning outcomes, quality of facilities, transport provision, and support for pupils with Additional Learning Needs (ALN). The Council says the data will help inform future decisions on modernising the school estate, ensuring they reflect the priorities of a broad and representative sample of parents. Despite the softened stance, the issue remains politically sensitive. Cllr Huw Murphy, whose formal 'call-in' prompted the Council to revisit its earlier decision, has argued that any perception of bias against Welsh-medium provision risks undermining public trust and the Council's obligations under the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP). The Welsh Language Commissioner had also expressed concern over the original approach, stating that questioning only parents choosing Welsh-medium schools was 'not compatible' with the Council's statutory duties. The revised position may go some way toward cooling tensions, but the debate has already highlighted deeper divisions over language policy, school choice, and how local authorities should approach data collection in the context of bilingual education. The Herald will continue to follow developments closely as the Council works through the next phase of its data-gathering plans.
BBC News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Pembrokeshire: Parents won't be asked why they chose Welsh
Parents will not be asked why they choose Welsh medium education for their children after a council responded to concerns from the Welsh language commissioner and opposition members of Pembrokeshire council voted to amend the controversial proposal, with the specific reference to the Welsh language being removed. Education officers will instead explore the demand for school places based on language provision, learning outcomes, transport, facilities and additional learning leader Paul Miller, who made the original proposal and the revised amendment accused the opposition leader Huw Murphy of "creating division in Pembrokeshire". He also claimed the Mr Murphy had tried to portray the administration as "anti-Welsh."The new proposal was passed unanimously by six cabinet members on virtual meeting was not attended by three cabinet members, including the councillor responsible for education, Guy Woodham, and Plaid Cymru's Rhys Sinnett. Fellow cabinet member, Jacob Williams, attacked the Welsh language commissioner, Efa Gruffudd Jones, claiming that she had "jumped the gun". He said she should be "embarrassed" about a letter to the council claiming the amendment could send "negative" messages to parents who were considering Welsh medium education for their also suggested she had not demonstrated that she was an "impartial authority."But a former head of the Welsh language board, Meirion Prys Jones, said it was "entirely appropriate" that the Welsh language commissioner had intervened in the row. "The role of the Welsh language commissioner is to look at local authorities, central government and decide whether they're actually implementing their own plans in terms of developing Welsh medium education," he said. "It would be strange really if the commissioner didn't comment and didn't write to the local authority saying, 'what are you doing here, this doesn't look to be in line with government policy'.Council leader Jon Harvey said the amended proposal was "not unreasonable" and that the authority wouldn't "do anything that wasn't legal"."This seems to have has been blown up to be a situation where we as a cabinet, are being perceived as anti Welsh or anti Welsh language, and that is certainly not the case," he said. "We have invested heavily in Welsh language provision. We are all very supportive of that. "All we are asking for is the director of education to explore whether we can get a little more data on the subject."
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Pembrokeshire council cabinet not 'anti-Welsh' says deputy leader
A deputy leader in a council has denied the cabinet is "anti-Welsh" after saying some parents "couldn't give a toss" if their children go to a Welsh-language school in a town in south-west Miller, deputy leader of Pembrokeshire council, and the cabinet voted on 28 April to ask the Director of Education to find out the demand for Welsh-language schools - a move which seven councillors voted to send back for reconsideration. It comes as the Welsh government passed a major new bill to boost the number of pupils studying in Murphy, leader of the Independent group, said Mr Miller's comments had left him "frustrated and upset." Every year council cabinets discusses how it is going to expand Welsh-medium one of these meetings on 28 April, Pembrokeshire council's cabinet backed an amendment by Mr Miller to ask the Department of Education to find out whether parents are sending their children to schools because they teach in Welsh or if they like other aspects of the school such as teaching amendment was "called in" on Wednesday, after opposition councillors reacted angrily to Mr Miller's comments. During a fiery meeting, Mr Millar accused Mr Murphy of "making something out of nothing" and said he should be "deeply ashamed" of the call in request. "I don't accept for a second that we should do anything to discourage anyone from making the choice that they want to make, be that a Welsh-medium education or an English-medium education," Mr Millar told the BBC said that parity between the two languages was "absolute".Councillors voted to send the decision back to the cabinet, which can decide to either stick with the original amendment or change their the end of the meeting, Mr Murphy called on Jon Harvey, council leader, to appoint a Welsh speaker to the cabinet as there are currently no fluent Welsh speakers in the a letter to council leader Jon Harvey, seen by BBC Wales, Welsh language commissioner Efa Gruffydd Jones expressed said any subsequent action would likely go "against Welsh government policy" and potentially harm Pembrokeshire's WESP (Welsh in Education Strategic Plan) targets and "convey negative messages to parents who are considering Welsh-medium education for their children".She also questioned why the amendment focused on choices about Welsh language education and not parents who choose English language commissioner also said there is "duty on local authorities to encourage the demand for Welsh-medium education".She pointed to the establishment of Ysgol Caer Elen in Haverfordwest as a success and said: "It's clear there is a demand for Welsh-medium education in Pembrokeshire".Mr Millar said he considered her letter a "pretty extraordinary political intervention in a democratically elected body by the commissioner".He said the local authority had facilitated growth in the Welsh language "extremely successfully", and was committed to ensuring that parents in Pembrokeshire had the choice they "deserved"."But if you're saying we should be building Welsh-medium schools where there might be absolutely no demand for them what[so]ever, I would say that that's crackers, isn't it?," he said."Surely we should understand where there is demand for Welsh-medium education and where there isn't and we should work hard to invest to make sure we're meeting the demand in the places where it exists," he added. When challenged over the use of the phrase "couldn't give a toss" in the cabinet meeting, Mr Millar said he was "repeating the language that was used to me"."Uncomfortable or not, there was a group of mums in my constituency who said that to me," he said he had been accused by the group of not being interested in Ysgol Caer Elen being a Welsh-medium school, but only in the fact that it was a good school with good facilities and free transport."There is a need to understand who is choosing to access those schools for the medium - so because it's a Welsh-medium school - and who is choosing those schools because it is the only available alternative perhaps to the catchment school that is not performing in the way that it should be, or does not have the facilities that the parents feel it should," he said."I think this has been blown up out of all proportion," he said, adding that suggestions he was anti-Welsh "could not be further from the truth".
