Breaking news - Consultation on school closures stopped

[Kintyre Forum News]

Consultation on school closures stopped

Argyll and Bute Council has agreed to stop its consultation process on proposals to amalgamate 11 primary schools.

The decision was taken at the council meeting on June 14 where members agreed to stop the consultation process. The decision comes in light of advice, given by the cabinet secretary for education and lifelong learning, to the Scottish Parliament, on Thursday 9 June, that the current schools consultation legislation is “defective.”

The council did not agree to support the cabinet secretary’s request for a one-year moratorium on proposals to close rural schools. Instead councillors agreed the moratorium should be discussed with the Scottish Government by COSLA, on behalf of all councils. The council will also ask COSLA to investigate how the implementation of the legislation was carried out by the government and will ask it to consider the possibility of a judicial review.

Council leader Dick Walsh said:

"In light of the comments made by the education secretary to the Scottish Parliament, where he outlined his concerns with the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, and described the Act as “defective” we feel it is right to stop our consultation process. It is not appropriate for the council to continue working under legislation which the education secretary himself believes to be flawed and not fit for purpose.

“We will work with COSLA to explore the wider implications of a moratorium and the impact it will have on education across Argyll and Bute.

“Our priority remains to provide all children in Argyll and Bute with a high standard of education. We welcome the news that the education secretary will examine the links between rural schools and the support and development of vibrant rural communities.

“We hope the education secretary will look at collaborative learning as part of his review and see how this can be applied successfully in very small, rural schools.

“Today’s decision to stop the current consultation process does not change the fact that in Argyll and Bute we have considerable surplus capacity in our primary schools. It does not change the fact that some of our schools have as few as three or four pupils, which makes it very difficult to successfully implement collaborative learning techniques such as Curriculum for Excellence. It does not change the fact that we have been advised for a number of years by audit and inspection bodies to review our school estate.

“We need to make sure our children and our teachers have access to education techniques which are recognised as best practice for today and tomorrow.”

The council also welcomed Mr Russell’s proposal to establish a commission to investigate the delivery of rural education and supports the view that Audit Scotland and HMIE should be part of the process.

Councillor Walsh continued:

“As Argyll and Bute Council has the most recent and most extensive experience of trying to work within the current legislation we feel representatives from the council should form part of the commission itself. Rural schools in dispersed communities make up a large proportion of Argyll and Bute’s education establishment. We have tried to work within the current legislation and have seen first hand the inconsistencies in its application. We are very keen to share this experience with the commission and help to refine the legislation.

“We specifically would like the scope of the commission to cover collaborative learning in small schools, a definitive model for defining school capacity and an absolute definition of educational benefit. It should also include guidelines to determine the sustainability of school buildings and equipment.

“Until we have these clear guidelines it is impossible for any new legislation to be applied fairly or consistently across all schools.”

The council agreed the decision to halt consultation would not apply to schools which have no pupils.

[D.H]

good news

there is also something on the BBC website http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-13759974

Argyll and Bute rural school closure plan shelved

Plans to close nine rural primary schools in Argyll and Bute have been shelved, pending a government review.

The decision by the area's local authority came after ministers asked councils to delay any plans to shut rural schools for a year.

Education Secretary Mike Russell asked for the moratorium while legislation on closures is looked at again.

Argyll and Bute Council met to consider whether it should still push ahead with its closure plans.

But, at a meeting of the local authority, councillors voted to stop all current consultations, except for the two which involve schools with no pupils in them, until a commission set up by Mr Russell has looked into the issue.

The council has said its situation, which has primary school capacity for 11,500 pupils, but a roll of only 6,000, was "unsustainable".

Local parents welcomed its decision.

Fiona Philips, from the Argyll Rural Schools Network, told BBC Scotland: "What we have now is a chance for these communities, for these schools and these children to get a break from nine months of campaigning to keep their schools open, justifying why we need rural schools in Scotland.

"It gives us the opportunity now to address how the whole education provision is done throughout rural areas."

Council body Cosla has opposed the request for a moratorium - which would be in place until after next year's council elections - although decisions on closures are a matter for individual local authorities.

Mr Russell's request came after he said legislation on rural school closures was not working properly and had been "more difficult" than thought.
'Hard to reopen'

Argyll and Bute and Western Isles councils have both said ministers must provide extra funding if cash-strapped local authorities are to keep all their schools open.

But Mr Russell, who is the MSP for Argyll and Bute, insisted his move was not about money, adding that it was important for local authorities to have "a dialogue" with government over school closures.

"This is about how we develop and sustain our rural communities and the link of education to those rural communities," he said.

"That's a vitally important thing because once you shut one of these schools it is very hard to reopen them. It does not happen.

"I think we owe it to these communities to be as careful as possible and to be as positive as possible in working together."

'Flawed' legislation

Argyll and Bute Council leader Dick Walsh said the decision to stop the council's consultation process did not alter the problem of "considerable surplus capacity in our primary schools".

But he said: "It is not appropriate for the council to continue working under legislation which the education secretary himself believes to be flawed and not fit for purpose.

"We will work with COSLA to explore the wider implications of a moratorium and the impact it will have on education across Argyll and Bute.

"Our priority remains to provide all children in Argyll and Bute with a high standard of education. We welcome the news that the education secretary will examine the links between rural schools and the support and development of vibrant rural communities."

[russanros]

- its interesting that the council have found something 'constitutional' to blame this on rather than that they were actually listening to public feelings?

- you would think that this particular problem of small schools in rural areas applies equally to some other areas like those coming under the authority of the Highlands and Borders areas, and possibly other parts of the UK Northumbria/certain parts of Wales etc. what are they doing about it?
- surely some sort of 'joined up' thinking would be better than loosing these schools for ever, once they are closed down the cost of re-establishing them would be much greater?

maybe amalgamating the top dogs who over see the schools would make more useful savings, why not combine resources with the next authority, say Highland so there is only one lot of 'exec salaries' that might save some money?

[argylltourist]

What's also interesting,is that there are very many workable ideas for future school prosperity......

Unfortunately,none of these ideas have come from this administration!!!