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Call for moratorium over rural school closures Call for moratorium over rural school closures
(about 1 hour later)
By Jamie McIvor BBC Scotland local government correspondent The Scottish government has called on councils to delay any plans to shut rural schools for a year.
The Scottish government is calling on councils to introduce a moratorium on plans to close rural schools. Education Secretary Mike Russell said legislation on rural school closures was not working properly and had been "more difficult than we thought".
Education Secretary Mike Russell has written to council leaders asking them to halt plans to shut rural schools until next June. Mr Russell has set up a rural education commission to investigate the issue and asked local authorities to agree to a moratorium on closures until June 2012.
He is also to set up a commission on how rural education should be delivered. The Scottish government said it could force councils to comply, if necessary.
The Scottish government said it could force councils to comply with a moratorium if necessary. One local authority, Western Isles Council, announced plans to press ahead with legal action on the issue.
But council umbrella group Cosla suggested Mr Russell's move "did not add up". And another, Argyll and Bute, where Mr Russell is the local MSP, said the government must provide extra funding to keep schools it was planning to close.
Councils are responsible for delivering education in their area but the Scottish government has the power to call in plans for school closures if it does not believe the correct processes have been followed by the authority. Councils are responsible for delivering education, but Scottish ministers can "call in" plans for school closures if they say authorities have failed to properly consult local communities.
A Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education will be established to consider the provision of education in rural communities and to take a comprehensive look at the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. The commission will now look at the Schools Consultation Act, passed in the last parliament, and investigate a "clear legislative presumption" against rural school closures.
The Scottish government says this will include a clear legislative presumption against the closure of rural schools and the need for educational benefits to be the driving force in any proposed closure. Mr Russell told BBC Radio Scotland he agreed with concerns from councils and education directors over the number of closure decisions being called in, and that the legislation was not working properly.
'Fair assessment' He also said the "Byzantine" funding arrangements for rural schools had to be looked at.
Mr Russell said: "The delivery of education in rural communities is about much more than a school building, it is fundamental to the social and economic make-up of a community. "The legislation, which was entered into with the best of intentions by all parties, has turned out to be more difficult than we thought," said the education secretary.
"That is why it is the right of individual communities to have genuine consultation based on accurate information and why there is, and will remain, a clear legislative presumption against closure. "I think it's right to pause, to step back, to have this moratorium and to set up this commission.
"However, since the Schools Consultation Act came into force there have been differences in the interpretation of the act. "Then I think we will be much clearer about how we could go forward together and positively, because this causes the most enormous amounts of angst and difficultly for ordinary people and for children."
"I believe that these differences have resulted in the original intentions of the act - that the educational, not financial, benefits should be the main consideration - not always being followed. Asked what action he would take if councils went ahead with closure plans, Mr Russell responded: "There is an established legal process, but I hope they won't do that, because, with goodwill and co-operation, we can get this right."
"To allow for a comprehensive and fair assessment of the closures process, I have asked for a one-year moratorium during which local authorities will not propose rural schools for closure." He said rural school closures "rarely" saved money, because of increased costs elsewhere as a result, such as transport.
Mr Russell added: "During this period a new Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education will be tasked with, amongst other things, reviewing the legislation and its application and making recommendations on best practice on the delivery of education in rural areas. Argyll and Bute Council is proposing to shut 11 primary schools - plans which have met with fierce local opposition.
"It will also look at innovation and the link between rural education and rural regeneration. The authority leader, Dick Wash, said the situation in his area, where there was primary school capacity for 11,500 pupils, but a roll of only 6,000, was "unsustainable".
"I will announce more details on its remit and membership shortly, but it will have licence to think radically and will return at the start of the next year with fresh proposals." He said of the moratorium: "If the Scottish government intends to prevent local authorities from considering their school estate, then it needs to provide additional funding to meet the resulting budget shortfall.
One of the biggest rows over proposed rural school closures is in Argyll and Bute where Mr Russell was elected as the MSP last month. Balancing budgets
Argyll and Bute Council is proposing to shut 11 primary schools. As things stand, any schools which close at the end of the consultation process are scheduled to shut at Christmas. "Otherwise, this restriction will see less money for all schools as well as other services."
Many of the proposed closures have been met by fierce local opposition. Mr Walsh added: "Argyll and Bute Council is currently facing unprecedented financial challenges which are impacting on every service area.
Argyll and Bute Council said it was assessing and considering its response to Mr Russell. "At the same time, the diminishing economic activity in some of our rural communities is affecting the number of families living there, which has obvious implications for school rolls."
Council leader Dick Walsh said: "On the basis of the limited details we have at present, one obvious question regards finance. Elsewhere, Western Isles Council is seeking a judicial review of an earlier decision by the education secretary to halt the closure of four island schools.
"If this is a Scottish government policy, then the cabinet secretary needs to give Scotland's local authorities clarity regarding whether there's likely to be any additional funding which will enable councils to protect their education budgets. The council had planned to close primaries at Carloway and Seilebost and secondaries at Shawbost and Lionel, on Lewis, but Mr Russell said the council's consultation was flawed.
"Argyll and Bute Council is currently facing unprecedented financial challenges which are impacting on every service area." Western Isles Council leader Angus Campbell said the government must pay to keep the schools open.
He added: "If the Scottish government intends to prevent local authorities from considering their school estate, then it needs to provide additional funding to meet the resulting budget shortfall. Otherwise, this restriction will see less money for all schools as well as other services. Council umbrella group Cosla suggested Mr Russell's move "did not add up" and said it was unhappy about not being consulted before Mr Russell wrote to councils individually.
"We look forward to receiving further details from the cabinet sSecretary regarding his proposal, in order that we can properly assess its implications." Cosla president Pat Watters said: "Does anybody honestly think that any council leader or education convener takes a decision to close a single school, rural or otherwise, without a tremendous amount of thought?
But Cosla appeared to be unhappy that it had not been consulted before Mr Russell wrote to councils individually. "Yes, we are driven by factors like finance and balancing budgets, but our main motivation is councils need to support educational attainment for all our young people across their area."
'Serious problem' He added: "If there is a way in which we can marry the financial issues facing us, the need to balance all the educational issues across a council area and a satisfactory outcome for pupils, parents, central and local government then that should be embraced and it would certainly be something that I would be willing to put to my colleagues in local government."
Its president Councillor Pat Watters said: "There is a difference between being consulted and being told. This is a subject that has never been raised at any of our political meetings - the way it has been done does not add up. Mr Russell said the issue was directly matter between government and individual councils but welcomed Cosla's involvement in the issue.
"Does anybody honestly think that any council leader or education convener takes a decision to close a single school, rural or otherwise, without a tremendous amount of thought? Ministers will announce the details and remit of the commission shortly.
"Yes, we are driven by factors like finance and balancing budgets, but our main motivation is councils need to support educational attainment for all our young people across their area.
"Councils have always had to make this difficult call and we fully understand that it can cause tensions."
He added: "If there is a way in which we can marry the financial issues facing us, the need to balance all the educational issues across a council area and a satisfactory outcome for pupils, parents, central and local government then that should be embraced and it would certainly be something that I would be willing to put to my colleagues in local government.
"The subject of school closures is a serious problem that can only be solved in partnership."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Councils have already expressed some concerns, via Cosla and Ades (Association of Directors of Education in Scotland), about how the process for closures has been working to date.
"We would therefore expect councils to welcome a period during which the process and associated legislation will be reviewed, adhering to the moratorium.
"The Scottish government would be able to impose a mandatory moratorium, created through legislation, if necessary.
"However, this would be time consuming and time which could be better spent looking at the substantive issue and seeking a way forward in the delivery of rural education."