“It reminds me of Groucho Marx.”

That was one councillor’s view as a row over how viable A-Level class numbers were decided continues to rumble on.

Clr. Mike Stoddart has raised issues with how a figure for the number of students ideally needed for a level subject to run in a school was arrived at.

He called for an in-depth review of the numbers.

A notice of motion he put forward was discussed by the schools and learning overview and scrutiny committee in April with minutes brought back to Tuesday’s meeting (June 19).

Clr. Stoddart said these minutes did not reflect the meeting or “the fact you closed down the debate”, referring to chairman Clr. John Davies.

Clr. Davies argued he had not stopped any debate bur rather brought it to a close as “interactions from other members of the committee were not forthcoming.”

He offered the chance to change what was in the minutes, but Clr. Stoddart declined.

“I’m not going to sit here and rewrite the minutes, it reminds me of Groucho Marx when he says ‘I don’t care who’s in the majority as long as I get to write the minutes’.”

Clr. Stoddart added that his doubts over how figures were arrived at prior to the local authority’s signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Pembrokeshire College must be revisited at full council in July.

“The issue, as I have said before, is we made a decision about the future of a levels in this county on a false prospectus, this is something as members we should not be prepared to accept,” added Clr. Stoddart.

Cabinet member for education Clr. David Lloyd said greater collaboration between schools and colleges, along with distance learning, was leading to a “virtual pan Pembrokeshire” provision.

“I think the threshold of viable A levels has moved on to how we can do it better and I want to encourage this community to embrace that and take it forward,” he added.

However, Clr. Stoddart reiterate the vote in favour of the Memorandum of Understanding was on “false information.”

“There’s something seriously wrong and we should get to the bottom of it. We’re prepared to say we have gone wrong but nobody is to blame,” he added.

The figures used in the Memorandum of Understanding and the discussion of Cllr Stoddart’s notice of motion will be put for inclusion on July’s full council agenda and discussed again at scrutiny in September.