Church legal threat forces Pembrokeshire to keep religious status at Cilgerran school

Pembrokeshire County Council has dropped its plan to remove the Church in Wales status from Ysgol Cilgerran after the Church threatened legal action over the school site. 

The council had wanted to make the Welsh-medium primary school a community school with no religious character but yesterday backed down. 

Wales Humanists is disappointed by the decision and is calling on the Welsh Government to review faith-school provision in light of falling pupil numbers and a changing religious landscape. 

In May, the council voted to end the school’s Voluntary Controlled (VC) status. The Church in Wales objected strongly. It threatened legal action and said it would not make the school site available to a new community school. 

Faith schools are often on church land, but councils build and maintain the buildings with public money. 

The council’s own report shows why the change was proposed. Pupil numbers are falling across the Preseli area, including at Cilgerran, which raises questions about the school’s long-term future. 

The report also said the school’s VC status rules out a federation with nearby community schools. 

The council said the plan was dropped because of opposition during the consultation and because of the legal dispute with the Diocese of St Davids. 

According to the 2021 Census, almost half of people in Pembrokeshire have no religion. Across Wales, ‘no religion’ is now the largest response to the Census religion question. 

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education and Regeneration, Cllr Paul Miller, said: ‘The challenges have not gone away, there’s no hiding from the fact there are fewer children around.’

Nathan Stilwell, spokesperson for Humanists UK, said:

‘We’re greatly disappointed by this decision. These are public schools, built and maintained with public money, and the council’s own report shows that the school’s religious status was making it harder to plan for its future.

‘Wales has fewer children and fewer religious families than ever before. Councils need to be able to plan schools that welcome every child equally, without the threat of legal action from churches. This is why we are asking the Welsh Government to review faith-school provision across Wales.’