Plaid Cymru AM Chris Franks believes many local authorities do not have systems in place to weed out parents trying to get their children into schools to which they are not entitled.
The South Wales Central AM spoke out after receiving responses from 18 councils who were asked under the Freedom of Information Act how many incidents they had discovered of false information in an attempt to get youngsters into popular schools over a three year period.
Caerphilly council discovered the most cases – around 30 a year – affecting St Cenydd, St Martin’s and Blackwood Comprehensives and Cwrt Rawlin Primary, Machen Primary, Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Caerffili and Ysgol Bro Sannan. All applications where fraudulent addresses were discovered were rejected.
Cardiff said that there were nine “fraudulent address applications” affecting nine schools in 2008-09. The authority did not name the schools involved.
The Vale of Glamorgan discovered four incidents involving Romilly Primary in Barry and Evenlode Primary in Penarth. There were two cases in Torfaen at Croesyceiliog Secondary and Croesyceiliog Primary in 2007-08 and two in Bridgend County Borough – at Cwmfelin and Maes yr Haul Primary Schools.
Flintshire discovered two cases at Wepre Primary, Connah’s Quay, while Pembrokeshire picked up one at Mathry VC School as did Rhondda Cynon Taf. There, RCT council said a parent gave her mother’s address although the authority made the discovery before the child started and the place was withdrawn.
But Denbighshire, Conwy, Carmarthenshire, Merthyr Tydfil, Powys, Monmouthshire and Ceredigion said they had found no cases of false information being provided by parents. Neath Port Talbot said it did not hold the necessary records to respond to the request while the Isle of Anglesey also said that it did not hold any information.
Wrexham do not operate catchment areas but said where schools were oversubscribed allegations were made about false addresses being provided but the council found no proof of fraud.
Chris Franks said: “The survey we carried out showed huge discrepancies with Caerphilly finding around 30 false applications a year while many councils have found no cases. This problem has been highlighted in parts of England and it would extremely surprising if it was not an issue at popular schools in Wales.
“These figures suggest to me that some councils may not have the systems in place to check up on the addresses of parents applying for popular schools. I would urge them to ensure the situation is monitored the situation because cheating by some parents could disadvantage those who stick to the rules.”
