A Notice of Motion relating to the closure of Manorbier School will be heard by Pembrokeshire County Council’s cabinet next week.

Manorbier VC Church in Wales School was severely damaged during a fire in October 2022 and was deemed unusable.

The school was temporarily relocated to Jameston Hall. Following a review of surplus school places in 2024 and wider school modernisation in the Tenby area, Pembrokeshire County Council’s cabinet considered a report of the school modernisation working group at its meeting of May 8, 2025.

Council resolved that the Director of Education be authorised to commence statutory consultation with the St David’s Diocese to discontinue Manorbier Church in Wales Voluntary Controlled School.

The Diocese’s response was considered by Council at its meeting of July 17, 2025, with a decision made that the Director of Education be authorised to commence general statutory consultation on the proposal to discontinue Manorbier School.

The school closure decision was then made earlier this year, before the school summer holidays, on June 15.

The following Notice of Motion submitted by County Councillor Phil Kidney (who represents the ward of Manorbier) has been referred to Cabinet meeting on Monday, September 7 for consideration and determination; such motion being in the following terms: That Council considers a full impartial investigation into the process of closing Manorbier School, specifically the time it has taken, broken promises, inadequate insurance, and the involvement of HR department.

The options open to Cabinet are as follows:

• 1) Accept the notice of motion and commission an independent investigation as requested by Cllr Kidney in his Notice of Motion

• 2) Support the intention of the Notice of Motion and commence two independent audits through the internal audit team of the council.

• 3) Not to agree to the notice of motion as set out by Cllr Kidney

A report from Pembrokeshire County Council’s Director for Education, Steven Richards-Downes that will go before members on Monday, states: “Option one is likely to incur significant external costs to the council with long and protracted periods of evidence gathering, reviewing information.

“A procurement process is also likely to be required. It is unlikely to produce the required learning that is required in these circumstances.

“Option 2 allows the council to commission independent audits that examine the circumstances in full and would have access to all the available evidence immediately.

“The terms of reference set up by the Governance and Audit Committee will review the circumstances in full and provide recommendations and conclusions that would lead to improved processes if anything like this were to happen again.

“The outcomes of this would be reported back to Cabinet where those things fall within their remit and any matters relating to the conduct or capability of officers would be referred to the Chief Executive.

“Any issues related to Elected Members would be referred to the Monitoring Officer for advice. This means that the processes already commissioned through the Governance and Audit Committee continues.

“Option 3 Does not allow for a transparent process that leads to lessons learned or improved processes in the future.”

The recommendation put to members will be Option 2, which the Director for Education states supports the intention of the Notice of Motion by ensuring that the concerns raised are fully considered through the two independent audit reviews already commissioned by the Governance and Audit Committee.

Once those reviews have concluded, a further report should be submitted to Cabinet setting out the findings, lessons learned and proposed corrective actions.

Any conduct or capability matters concerning officers would be referred to the Chief Executive, whilst any issues relating to elected members should be referred to the Monitoring Officer for advice.