Letter from Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP, Secretary of State, Department of Education and Skills

Speech by Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP, Secretary of State, Department of Education and Skills delivered to Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP, House of Commons, LONDON, SW1A 0AA on Thu 16th Nov 2006

Rt Hon Alan Johnston MP, Secretary of State, Department of Education and Skills

Letter from - Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP, Secretary of State, Department of Education and Skills

To - Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP, House of Commons, LONDON, SW1A 0AA

16 November 2006

Dear Patrick

Thank you for your letter of 26 October, together with enclosed correspondence from your constituent, in Stoney Middleton, Hope Valley, about the proposed closure of Stoney Middleton Church of England (CE) School in Derbyshire.

I should perhaps first explain that school place planning is the statutory responsibility of Local Authorities (Las). It is for each LA to ensure that sufficient school places exist to meet the needs of the population and to review the position regularly, taking action where a significant imbalance is identified. Where the LA propose to make changes to local school provision they must publish statutory proposals and these are decided under local decision making arrangements and Ministers cannot intervene.

Statutory proposals require four statutory stages: Consultation (with all interested parties); Publication (in a local newspaper, at the entrance to the school and in a conspicuous place in the area served by the school); Representation (allowing for comments and objections to be submitted) and Decision. Proposals are normally decided by the local School Organisation Committee (SOC) or the Schools Adjudicator if the SOC cannot reach a unanimous decision.

I understand that the proposals to close Stoney Middleton CE School are currently subject to a public consultation exercise which is due to close on 27 November. This provides an opportunity for anyone with concerns about the proposals to make their views known to the authority and I presume your constituent has done so. Before deciding to publish the proposals the authority must consider the views expressed and must be able to demonstrate how they have taken those views into account before they make their final decision on whether to publish. If the proposals are published there will be a further opportunity for those who remain unhappy to register their concerns during the representation period. Comments and objections should be submitted to the LA by the deadline noted in the published notice.

Whilst Ministers have no role in individual decisions, the law requires that the SOC and schools adjudicator must have regard to guidance issued by the Secretary of State. The guidance states that before taking a decision they must consider a range of factors, taking into account the individual merits and competing arguments in each case. The list of factors they must consider includes: the impact on local standards and diversity, the need for places, the views of interested parties, cost effectiveness and the impact on the community etc. The guidance also includes a presumption against the closure of rural schools. This reflects the Government's commitment to support rural schools where they contribute to standards, where parents want them and where they have the support of the local educational community. This does not mean a rural school can never be closed, but it does mean that the case must be strong if the proposals are to be approved. More detailed information may be found on my Department's website: www.dfes.gov.uk/schoolorg/.

Your constituent refers to the proposals being designed to address surplus places in the area. We do encourage Las to take action to remove surplus places, as empty places can be poor use of resources, but our guidance makes clear that their removal must support the core agenda of raising standards and respect parents wishes by seeking to match school places with parental choices.

You also asked for my comments about references in articles on Derbyshire Council's website about potential savings to be made by the school's closure. As you may be aware, we fund LAs predominantly on the basis of pupil numbers on the rolls of schools: we also take into account those that may be educated centrally in places like pupil referral units (PRUs) by the LA. We have already announced the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for the next two years for 2006-07 and 2007-08 in Derbyshire and the overall increase is 13.3% per pupil. If proposals to close Stoney Middleton CE School were to be approved, it would be for Derbyshire Council to redistribute any savings in fixed and recurrent costs amongst Derbyshire schools, via its Schools Budget.

I do appreciate how sensitive and upsetting proposals to close schools can be for parents, children, and local communities. As I have explained I cannot intervene, but I would encourage your constituent to set out her arguments about the proposals at the appropriate stages explained above, so that these can be considered when the decision is finally taken.

Yours

Alan

ALAN JOHNSON