Class war as councils reject ban on school closures

SCOTLAND'S councils have gone to war with the Scottish Government over ministers' demands that there should be no school closures. Education secretary Michael Russell's decision to bar any rural closures for a year was branded "perverse" last night by Pat Watters, president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla).

The issue will come to a head today in Argyll and Bute – the area Mr Russell represents at Holyrood – with an emergency meeting to discuss the future of 11 schools.

A total of 35 across Scotland are earmarked for closure as budgets shrink and councils seek to save money.

Cosla's defiance is the first real test of the SNP government's mandate since it swept to victory last month and is likely to be the first volley in a battle for funding over the next year, ahead of local elections next May.

Although the Scottish Government is responsible for education policy, decisions on whether to close schools are usually left to councils, which typically base those decisions on school rolls.

But the education secretary announced a moratorium for a year earlier this month so that a commission could be formed to review the rules governing when closures can be made.

The move sparked anger from councils and yesterday Cosla rejected the proposal altogether.

Mr Watters said: "Of 35 schools proposed for closure, few have been called in and the minister has only felt able to refuse the closure of four of these under the current legislation. These figures hardly represent a crisis in rural school management.

"With regard to the proposal for a commission, Cosla's leadership board considered that such a proposal could have some merit.

"However, to put rural school closures in the context of development of rural communities requires a discussion of housing, planning, economic development, education, leisure facilities, etc.

"Given the overwhelming importance of these local government services in rural development, it seems perverse that no discussion has taken place with local government or Cosla on the education secretary's proposals for a commission."

Mr Watters said there were always tensions surrounding school closures, particularly in rural areas.

He added: "In the rural setting, these may be particularly acute and, it may be argued, impinge to a greater extent on other rural development issues, so some discussion with ministers about how these tensions can be resolved would be no bad thing."

Last night, Mr Russell was unrepentant and said he would press ahead with setting up a commission to look at the rules.

A spokesman said: "Potential school closures are a source of great anxiety to parents, teachers, pupils and all those affected, so with the last year having seen a number of varied interpretations of the 2010 legislation, as well as strong criticism of the act and its operation from Cosla itself, as well as from a number of communities, it is absolutely clear that something needed to be done.

"The Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education will consider all the issues surrounding rural education, and a moratorium on proposals for the next 12 months will ensure it can work effectively and fairly."

He added: "The Scottish Government's proposals were welcomed by all sides of the Scottish Parliament during the discussion of the Cabinet secretary's statement last week.

"He also made it clear at that time that the government wants to work with Cosla and others on this issue, and to move forward in a spirit of partnership. That remains his intention."

The relationship between the SNP government and Scotland's councils has become strained, with local authorities bearing the brunt of spending cuts as health spending is protected. Councils are also under severe pressure to deliver the council tax freeze promised in the SNP manifesto for another five years, on top of the freeze in place for the past four years.

Local authority leaders have privately made it clear that the issue of rural school closures and financing shows that the SNP government intends to take more power away from local authorities.

One senior figure told The Scotsman: "The SNP government is coming after our powers. They want to centralise education, and that will just be the beginning. You can also see it in the way they want one police force, that centralises power in the hands of the minister."

A Labour spokesman said that Cosla's reaction showed the moratorium had been "ill thought-out" and that Mr Russell needed to go back and look at the details of his proposals again. The saving in Highland Council alone from closing schools is estimated to be 1.5 million.

The Conservatives highlighted the fact that Cosla was still "dominated by the Labour Party".

A spokesman added: "Clearly, Cosla comes from the starting point of closing schools, whereas we come from the start point of keeping them open."

Liberal Democrat education spokesman Liam McArthur said: "There was absolutely no prior consultation on this proposed moratorium.

"Even ten days on and after a statement to parliament, there is still little detail on how it would work and what the implications are for education and other council services.

"Last week, I urged the Cabinet secretary to meet with council leaders as a matter of urgency. This call has now been made directly by councils. Mr Russell must listen and respond."