The Corporate Director Education and Family Support sought approval to submit an expression of interest to Welsh Government (WG) in respect of the recently announced second tranche of the Welsh-medium Capital Grant.

He informed Cabinet that there is a duty on local authorities to promote the Welsh language and support Welsh Government’s Cymraeg 2050 ambition.  He stated that the authority in November 2018, had secured £2.6m of WG Capital Grant funding for the development of Welsh-medium childcare provision in strategic geographical areas of the county borough, in order to support the 2050 vision.  Four areas were identified for investment, one of which was Porthcawl and in principle approval had been given by Cabinet on 21 January 2020 to the development of a 1 form entry Welsh-medium school to serve the Porthcawl area as part of a future band of the school modernisation programme. The intention is that the new provision would be aligned to the development of the Porthcawl Regeneration scheme. 

He stated that in order to promote the Welsh language and deliver on the Cabinet commitment within this part of the county borough, the need for an interim measure in the form of a Welsh-medium seedling school had been identified.  He informed Cabinet that from an economic perspective, it would make the most efficient use of funding to co-locate childcare and seedling Welsh-medium provisions on a single site (since the associated economies of scale would mean that significant savings could be made as compared to providing separate provisions at disparate locations).  From a logistical perspective, it would be beneficial to parents/carers since there would be a natural progression from the childcare provision through to the seedling school. 

The Corporate Director Education and Family Support reported that the estimated cost for the provision of a combined Welsh-medium seedling school and childcare facility of £3.75m includes an element of £150k for anticipated highways works.  The full extent of the highways work required for the proposed scheme would not be known until a Transport Assessment is undertaken at detailed design stage.  He stated that the WG currently only grant fund construction within the curtilage of development sites, consequently, the Council would be required to fund any necessary highways works falling beyond the site boundary.  He informed Cabinet that a report would be submitted to Council at a later stage when the extent of any additional capital funding and additional revenue costs were known.

The Leader informed Cabinet that it had been an ambition by families in support of Welsh medium education to establish such provision in Porthcawl.  The Cabinet Member Wellbeing and Future Generations commented that the proposal would help support the growth of the Welsh language in Porthcawl.  The Cabinet Member Wellbeing and Future Generations questioned the likelihood of a successful being made for grant funding.  The Corporate Director Education and Family Support indicated that the Welsh Government were supportive of the proposals and that officers are working with Rhieni Dros Addysg Gymraeg who were equally supportive of the proposal to establish a seedling school in Porthcawl.

RESOLVED:           That Cabinet gave approval for an expression of interest to be submitted to WG in respect of the Welsh-medium Capital Grant in order to create a Welsh-medium seedling school in the Porthcawl area.