Southend Primary School closure decision: letter to Argyll and Bute Council

To: Wendy Brownlie, Head of Education, Argyll and Bute Council
From: Sam Anson, Deputy Director, Workforce, Infrastructure and Digital Learning Directorate

1 May 2024

Dear Wendy Brownlie

Schools (consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010: Southend Primary School

I refer to your email of 7 March 2023 notifying Scottish Ministers of Argyll and Bute Council’s decision of 7 March 2024 to implement the proposal to close Southend 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 7 March 2024 and expired on 27 March 2024. No representations were received.

Having reviewed the documents provided by Argyll and Bute Council under section 15(2) and considered all relevant representations made under section 15(4), Ministers consider that Argyll and Bute Council has fulfilled its obligations under the 2010 Act and do not intend to issue a call-in notice for this proposal.

Argyll and Bute Council may now implement its decision to close Southend Primary School in line with the timescales set out in its proposal paper. As noted in Education Scotland’s report on the proposal, the Council should work with the local community, including children and young people, to consider any future use for the school and grounds and provide clarification on existing placing requests and home to school transport arrangements for the parents of children from the Southend catchment who currently attend Dalintober Primary School.

Yours sincerely,

Sam Anson
Deputy Director, Workforce, Infrastructure and Digital Learning Directorate

Southend Primary School closure decision: letter to Argyll and Bute Council

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