Proposed changes to your child's school: guide to the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 as amended

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT’S ROLE

Local authorities are locally elected and accountable, and will therefore take the final decision on proposed changes in most cases. However, if the decision is to close a school and you think that your local authority has failed to follow the process properly or has failed to take account of an important issue in reaching its decision, then you can ask Scottish Ministers to call in the decision for review. Local authorities must publicise the opportunity for interested parties to make such a request to Ministers, which must be made within 3 weeks of the local authority’s decision being taken. Ministers then have a further 5 weeks to decide whether or not to call in the decision.

Scottish Ministers will only call in decisions where there is strong evidence that the local authority has failed significantly. If a decision is called in, Ministers must refer the proposal to a School Closure Review Panel for further investigation.