BLAENAU Gwent council leader Des Hillman was not biased in the way he dealt with the proposed closure of a Valleys sixth form, legal representatives for the local authority said yesterday.

On the last day of a judicial review into the proposed closure of Brynmawr Foundation School’s sixth form, lawyers representing Blaenau Gwent argued Councillor Hillman was not biased when he failed to declare a personal or prejudicial interest before voting on the proposed closure at an executive meeting.

This was despite the fact he had previously written to the school complaining that his grandson, who is a pupil, was being treated unfairly because of the authority’s plans for the school.

Governors at Brynmawr Foundation School are challenging the way the proposed closure of its sixth form was handled by the Assembly Government, after it delegated powers to Blaenau Gwent council.

Campaigners claim foundation status means only the Assembly can propose closure, and on Wednesday the school’s legal representative Tim Kerr QC also questioned if Cllr Hillman’s actions could be viewed as biased.

But Rhodri Williams QC, representing the council, yesterday said that the incident which prompted Cllr Hillman to write to the school - his grandson's punishment for daubing graffiti on school premises - was so far away from the executive meeting when the vote was held that he had forgotten about it.

Mr Williams QC said: “The evidence of Cllr Hillman is that by the time of the meeting...that issue for him had been long forgotten. Consequently it could not have had an impact on the position he adopted in the meeting.”

Mr Williams QC also argued Blaenau Gwent was not legally prohibited from closing the school’s sixth form and that the consultation process would have been exactly the same if it had been carried out by the Assembly Government.

Judge Mr Justice Beatson said he would give his judgement on the school's closure in the coming weeks.