TWO councillors have been rebuked for slating school governors.

Denbighshire councillors Barry Mellor and Tony Flynn have been condemned for calling the volunteers who help run schools as just “making up the numbers” and describing them as a “problem”.

The comments came in a meeting of Denbighshire’s audit committee on health and safety but fears have been raised that they could put people off volunteering at schools in the future.

Llandyrnog county councillor, Merfyn Parry, said: “It’s not easy in rural areas for people to get back from their work and also to attend training. There are very good people giving up their time to help the schools. I sit on Ysgol Bryn Clwyd and Ysgol Gellifor, a federated school, the governors contribute well in all meetings.

"I’m disappointed that these two had to criticise governors, this possibly could put people off from joining a school governing body.”

Anne Roberts from Ruthin and Rob Parkes from Denbigh are both town councillors, a role that means they volunteer their time for free to serve their communities, they were angered by the comments.

Mrs Roberts, a governor at Ruthin’s Ysgol Borthyn, said: “I found the remarks very offensive. Local people who act on governing bodies, do so as volunteers giving their time for free, bringing many varied qualifications and skills to the role, unlike county councillors who are paid for what they do.”

Mr Parkes, a governor for six years,   said: “It can be quite a big undertaking to be a school governor and with it comes a high level of responsibility. The people who do take on this role and give up their free time should receive praise for doing so. It can be hard work and an extremely complicated commitment.”

Denbighshire Free Press:

Huw Hilditch-Roberts

The county’s cabinet member for education, Huw Hilditch-Roberts, was also annoyed by the comments.

He said: “I’m actually shocked and quite insulted by some of the comments made.  We have over 700 governors in Denbighshire who volunteer and the majority give great commitments to our schools This is reflected in recent Estyn reports in the county which have made reference to the good support governors give to schools.

“The last training session that Denbighshire ran had over 80 governors attending, people who give up their free time for nothing in order to ensure that the safety and education of our children is paramount in this county.

“Despite changes to Welsh Government funding, Denbighshire County Council are committed to supporting the governors within Denbighshire so that they have all the tools they need in order to fulfil their role effectively. I think the government should invest more in governors because the responsibility of being a school governor is huge.”

Both councillor Flynn and Mellor tried to explain their comments when they spoke to the Local Democracy Service today.

Cllr Flynn said: “What I’d like to get across is my praise for Prestatyn High School, that is a big school with all sorts of professional people there and it must be hard for smaller schools to try and attract people on a voluntary basis.

“We mustn’t always look at governing bodies. I realise that not all schools have that great benefit.”

Cllr Mellor said: “I feel what is happening with some schools is they are filling the places up to get a full governing body but probably with the wrong people and the teachers are not getting support. From the governing body that I was on only two of us turned up for the training put on by Denbighshire.

“I understand these people are volunteers. We need to try to strengthen that along the way.”