By Keith Aitken in Edinburgh | 15 June 2011
Scottish councils have dismissed ministerial calls for a one-year moratorium on the closure of rural schools.
The decision, taken by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities on Monday, dealt a serious blow to the Scottish Government’s hopes of ‘parking’ one of the most sensitive issues on the spending cuts agenda. Cosla’s decision frees individual councils to pursue their own course.Scottish Education Secretary Michael Russell had proposed that any rural school closures be put off until the outcome of a review of relevant legislation by a rural education commission.
A Schools Consultation Act, passed in the last Parliament, introduced a presumption against rural school closures, reinforced by ministerial powers of intervention. Cash-strapped authorities want it backed with extra government money, and Russell has admitted that the legislation is not proving as easy to enforce as he had hoped.
Cosla president Pat Watters pointed out that Russell had used the legislation to intervene in only 4 cases out of 35, figures that ‘hardly represent a crisis in rural school management’. Watters said he saw merit in the commission idea, but councils should be involved directly in determining its reference, methods and membership.
Yesterday, the rural Argyll & Bute Council in the west of Scotland agreed to reprieve 9 out of 11 schools slated for closure. This saved Russell some personal humiliation as he represents the area in the Scottish Parliament.
Argyll’s closure plans have provoked a fierce campaign of resistance from parents and others. Council leader Dick Walsh stressed that the problem of ‘unsustainable’ over-capacity remained. The council has places for 11,500 primary children, but only 6,000 on its school roll.
Walsh added: ‘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.’
School closures are an acutely delicate issue in Scotland’s remote rural and island communities, where primaries can serve just a handful of pupils. Though costly to maintain, they are often seen as the heart of fragile communities and shutting them can leave children facing daunting journeys to the next nearest school.
