Easterfield Primary School closure decision: letter to Aberdeenshire Council
Letter from Learning Directorate, to Aberdeenshire Council, with decision to close Easterfield Primary School.
To: Laurence Findlay, Director for Education and Children’s Services, Aberdeenshire Council
From: Orlando Heijmer-Mason, Deputy Director, Workforce, Infrastructure and Digital Learning Directorate
20 November 2024
Dear Laurence,
Schools (consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010: Easterfield Primary School
I refer to your email of 2 October 2024 notifying Scottish Ministers of Aberdeenshire Council’s decision of 26 September 2024 to implement the proposal to close Easterfield and realign its catchment area to Auchterless Primary School. Ministers have considered this proposal in line with the requirements set out in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 (“the 2010 Act”).
Under section 17 of the 2010 Act, Ministers may only issue a call-in notice if it appears to them that the education authority may have failed:
(a) in a significant regard to comply with the requirements imposed on it by (or under) the Act so far as they are relevant in relation to the closure proposal, or
(b) to take proper account of a material consideration relevant to its decision to implement the proposal.
Section 15(2) of the 2010 Act requires an education authority to provide a copy of the proposal paper and the consultation report prepared under the Act to Ministers when notifying them of a closure proposal.
Section 15(4) of the 2010 Act requires Ministers to take into account any relevant representations made to them by any person during the three-week period from the date that a closure decision is made. In relation to this closure proposal, the three-week period began on 26 September 2024 and expired on 16 October 2024. No representations were received.
Having reviewed the documents provided by Aberdeenshire Council under section 15(2) and considered all relevant representations made under section 15(4), Ministers consider that Aberdeenshire Council has fulfilled its obligations under the 2010 Act and do not intend to issue a call-in notice for this proposal.
Aberdeenshire Council may now implement its decision to close Easterfield Primary School in line with the timescales set out in its proposal paper. As noted in Education Scotland’s report on the proposal, Aberdeenshire Council should work with stakeholders to consider the future use of the site and any resources that remain within the school building and playground.
Yours sincerely,
Orlando Heijmer-Mason
Deputy Director, Workforce, Infrastructure and Digital Learning Directorate
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