Written - Proposal by Cardiff Council to reduce the capacity of Whitchurch High School

On 25 May 2010, Cardiff Council (“the local authority”) published a notice to reduce the capacity of Whitchurch High School from 12 forms of entry to 10 forms of entry from September 2015, with a first phase of implementation to 11 forms of entry from September 2012. The Notice indicated that the local authority was exercising powers contained within Section 28(1)(b) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 (“the 1998 Act”)

On 15 June 2010 Welsh Assembly Government officials wrote to the local authority to advise that in their view the proposal was not one that could be published or made under section 28 of the 1998 Act and that therefore the local authority had published an invalid notice. Furthermore as the Notice was considered invalid and incapable of being determined, the local authority were advised that the Notice should be withdrawn as a matter of urgency, and affected parties written to as soon as possible

The appropriate method for reducing an admission number had been drawn to the attention of the local authority on a number of occasions by Welsh Assembly Government officials. The correct method is by means of the publication of a Notice under section 89 of the 1998 Act and regulation 11(1) (b) of the Education (Determination of Admission Arrangements) (Wales) Regulations 2006. The School Admissions Code sets out the process at paragraphs 2.1 to 2.15.

On 18 June 2010 the local authority wrote to the Welsh Assembly Government accepting that it had published the Notice in error and confirming that the notice will therefore be withdrawn.

If the local authority still wishes to pursue its intentions in relation to the capacity of Whitchurch High School, it should now seek to do so using the appropriate method as set out above.