AS the elected county councillor for Hendy I feel compelled to respond to the letter written by Gareth Beynon Thomas, published in the Llanelli Star on January 4.

When he states that "the council has no plans to deal with the many old substandard (school) buildings, such as Hendy Primary School", he is factually wrong. In December 2010, the county council adopted its new 21st-Century Schools Programme as its updated strategy to transform and modernise the entire schools estate across Carmarthenshire.

This programme clearly includes a project to extend and modernise the premises of Ysgol Yr Hendy, as it does for every other school in the county that is to be retained for the long-term. The timing of the improvements will depend upon the availability of grant funding from UK Government via the Welsh Assembly, but the county council is already committed to undertaking improvement works at Ysgol Yr Hendy as soon as funding is made available.

Mr Beynon Thomas declares that he is "mystified" that the county council is planning to invest in the upgrading of the facilities at Ysgol y Strade and other secondary schools in Llanelli, which he describes as being "in a falling rolls situation".

I am given to understand that Councillor Beynon Thomas is a governor at Ysgol y Strade and so I would expect him to know that the pupil population at this school is actually increasing and not decreasing. I wonder how the governing body, staff, parents and pupils of Ysgol y Strade feel to see one of their own governors publicly opposing the development of their school.

For my own part I am proud of the part that I have played in securing a commitment to improve facilities for Ysgol Yr Hendy and I fully support the county council's plans to invest in extending and improving facilities at Ysgol y Strade to meet increasing demand for Welsh-medium secondary education, including for the children of Hendy who currently attend this school or wish to do so in the future.

Stephen Lloyd-Janes

County councillor for Hendy