Proposed Closure of Southend Primary School for Nov 2nd

[mary]

In response to some of the above posts, it is quite clear that the school closure proposals were discussed some months ago in various "Seminars" with Councillors- or in private as you might say. That might have been all very well in the initial stages while the situation was being assessed, but the fact is that between then and the announcement of closures, there has never been any credible information provided, nor consultation with the public, either with the members of the community to be affected or with the parents of the children involved. Yet again Argyll & Bute Council has failed to meet National Standards for community participation, and engagement. This is quite wrong and it is hardly surprising that people are "hot under the collar!

[Kintyre Forum News]

Press release from Argyll & Bute Council Liberal Democrats received tonight at 20:17

Today the Liberal Democrat opposition group on Argyll and Bute Council supported the Administration’s proposal to embark on 19 consultation exercises for 25 schools across Argyll and Bute. The island of Luing merger with Easdale school was not on the list. These proposals were brought forward by the SNP spokesperson for Education for the council, who then failed to support the proposals her department had produced. The SNP part of the administration also voted against the proposals.

For the Liberal Democrat group the important factor is that the consultation process is fair, open and transparent. That is the commitment that the group has made since the start of this process and its position on that has not changed.

Liberal Democrat opposition group leader, Councillor Ellen Morton, said “This is a very difficult situation for all councillors and I personally think it is very irresponsible of the SNP councillors to work on a proposal for years; create enormous upset for our communities; and then walk away as though they had no responsibility for it.”

[Kintyre Forum News]

COUNCIL AGREES TO PUT SCHOOL PROPOSALS OUT TO CONSULTATION

Argyll and Bute Council has agreed to put proposals on the future of its school estate out to public consultation.

The proposals involve reducing the number of primary schools from 80 to 55 by amalgamating 25 schools into 19 receiving schools.

Councillors agreed to withdraw the proposal which would have seen Luing Primary amalgamate with Easdale Primary.

Council Leader Dick Walsh said it was vital that the public had a chance to have their say.

“We are committed to listening to our communities, and want to give people across Argyll and Bute the chance to play a full part in this consultation process,” he added.

"At this stage, these are nothing more than proposal documents for consultation. I want to assure the public that no decisions have been taken, and that no decisions will be taken until we have gathered and assessed the responses we receive during the consultation.

“Given the very challenging financial climate over the next few years we, in common with Scotland’s other 31 councils, are having to explore all avenues in terms of potential savings.

"We are satisfied the work done on the review of our school estate to date has been sound and thorough, and we now have a duty to fully investigate the options open to us. We are asking our residents to join with us in that process by making their views known.”

Although the council has been receiving feedback on these proposals for several weeks – all of which will be considered as part of the consultation - the official consultation period will now start on Monday, 13 December 2010 and end on Thursday, February 24 2011.

During this time, public meetings will be held for each proposal which anyone is free to attend should they wish.

At the meetings, the council will present its reasons for bringing forward the particular proposal, after which there will be an opportunity for questions and comment. All comments will be collated and fed back into the consultation process.

In addition, people are invited to email, write or fill in response forms with their views and comments.

Councillor Walsh said: “We are committed to a transparent and robust consultation, and I would urge all those who have something to say on this subject to play their part so we get a comprehensive picture of the views across the area. Only then will we be able to make a balanced judgement on finding a sustainable way forward.”

Once the consultation period has finished, a report will be drawn up which will include a record of the total number of written representations, a summary of those representations, a summary of the oral representations made at the public meetings, a copy of the HMIE report into the educational aspects of the proposals and the council’s response and details of any alleged inaccuracies and how they have been handled.

This report will be published in electronic and printed formats and will be advertised in local newspapers. It will be available on the council website and in the council headquarters, as well as the affected schools.

The council will consider that report at a later date.

NOTES TO EDITORS

School rolls across Argyll and Bute have fallen steadily over many years. In 1975 the primary roll was 9124. By 1996 this had fallen to 8373, and this year the figure is 5816. Rolls are expected to drop by a further 19% by 2020.

59% of primary schools have an occupancy of less than half, which compares unfavourably with the national average of 20%.

Argyll and Bute Council currently operates 80 primary schools, 10 secondary schools and one learning centre.

The annual cost of educating a pupil in schools in Argyll and Bute ranges from roughly £3,000 per pupil to in excess of £30,000 per pupil.

Argyll and Bute Council has to reduce its budget by between £9m and £13m each year, for the next three years.

The education budget needs to be reduced by £12m (15%) over the next three years.

The proposed amalgamations are:

Keills with Port Charlotte
Ulva with Dervaig
Lochdonhead with Salen
North Bute with Rothesay
Toward with Innellan
Kilmodan with Strachur/Tighnabruaich
Luss with Hermitage Primary
Rosneath and Kilcreggan with Garelochhead
Parklands with Hermitage Academy/John Logie Baird
Southend with Drumlemble
Strone with Sandbank
St Keiran’s with Castlehill
Ardchattan, Achaleven and Barcaldine with Lochnell
Kilchrenan with Taynuilt
Ardchonnel with Dalmally/Kilmartin
Skipness, Rhunahaorine and Glenbarr with Clachan
Ashfield with Tayvallich
Achahoish with Ardrishaig
Glassary and Minard with Lochgilphead

[John S]

Argyll & Bute SNP Press Release 25/11/10

THE SNP WILL FIGHT AGAINST THE SCHOOL CLOSURE PROGRAMME


RURAL COMMUNITIES WILL BE DESTROYED BY THE ACTIONS OF THIS COUNCIL.


The Liberals and the Tories now intend to destroy our vital , good

schools.



As you may know, this week the SNP withdrew from the administration of

Argyll & Bute Council because our 9 councillors were not prepared to

vote for a programme of school closures which would undermine all of

rural Argyll ,destroy many of our communities and wipe out many good

schools.


The programme however was voted through by the Council by a margin of

only two votes. It would have failed had the Liberals or the Tories

refused to back it. In fact they were the most enthusiastic supporters

of a set of proposals which are deeply flawed, based on highly

questionable figures and now - after the Scottish Government settlement

with Scotland's Councils announced in the SNP budget - completely

unnecessary.


There are one or two schools on the list of 25 which was presented to

the council by officials which are empty or which have such severe

problems in terms of the state of the buildings that closure is all but

inevitable. But many other schools on the list are excellent place,

full of keen enthusiastic children and delivering high quality

education. In some cases the travel time to the proposed school with

which these establishments are meant to merge is far greater than young

children can be expected to undertake on a daily basis. In several the

journey would be positively dangerous in the winter.


It defies belief that any councillor or official would suggest closing

such schools. But 19 councillors put their hands up to do so including

all the Liberals, the Tories and a number of independents including the

Council Leader, Dick Walsh. Cllr Walsh in particular should have known

better. He was at a meeting in Edinburgh last week that discussed the

Scottish Budget deal with councils. He knows that the financial cut

coming to Argyll & Bute is much smaller than expected. He was under

an obligation to bring that information to his colleagues and to make

sure it was considered. Instead he pressed ahead , hell bent on

closures, even of a school in his own ward.


My SNP colleagues and I believe that rural schools are vital for the

future of this area. We think the information provided to the Council

today was of such a poor standard that at the very least the list should

have taken away for further thought. We know that the scaremongering

about cuts to roads and social services made by Cllr Walsh and others

today was designed only to dragoon his allies into line.


We made it clear today that we reject that approach. We have listened

to the people and we have stood by our principles. Alas others did

not do so. In particular we note that prominent amongst those who

ignored the pleas from parents and children across the county was the

Liberal Democrat Scottish Parliamentary Candidate for Holyrood at next

year's elections, Cllr Alison Hay. Unbelievably she voted for the list

in its entirety - all 25 schools. Amazingly whilst the Liberals in

London ruthlessly slash the money that Scotland can spend , the local

Liberal candidate has shown herself keen to destroy our good rural

schools.


We believe the people of Argyll and Bute are firmly against this type of

political vandalism. We believe that the people of Argyll and Bute

deserve clear and accurate information and should be listened to.

Accordingly we have withdrawn from the political administration and will

vigorously and actively oppose the closure of viable schools.

Fortunately the SNP Government last year passed a new Bill which has a

presumption against rural school closures. It means that parents and

communities across rural Scotland have strong rights and must be heard

during the consultation process. Your SNP Councillors will work with

you to ensure that every community affected puts up the best case

possible and fights as hard as possible against what Cllr Walsh, his

motley band of unthinking Independent Councillor colleagues and his new

Liberal and Tory cronies want to impose on you.


In that we know we will have the support of our own Candidate for the

Holyrood Elections, Michael Russell MSP.


Yours sincerely


Robert MacIntyre

Cllr for Bute

Leader of the SNP Group, Argyll & Bute Council

[mrn]

John, this isn't a loaded question but doesn't it read as hypocritical that a party in power (SNP) and who were responsible for these proposals should now walk away, hold their hands up and blame everyone else?

That said, I do believe the SNP group have made the correct decision.

Can anyone advise how the elusive Councillor Kelly and Colville voted?

[John S]

John, this isn't a loaded question but doesn't it read as hypocritical that a party in power (SNP) and who were responsible for these proposals should now walk away, hold their hands up and blame everyone else?

That said, I do believe the SNP group have made the correct decision.

Can anyone advise how the elusive Councillor Kelly and Colville voted?

As the junior member of a coalition we didn't have sufficient power to stop the proposals coming before the council. However the SNP were elected on a policy of the presumption against closure of rural schools. The papers were drafted by officers, not councillors and much of the detail was not provided until late in the day.

When the final drafts arrived there were obviously issues with them and the SNP Group managed to persuade our coalition partners to have them taken back in for verification and additional information. This also gave us time to further research ourselves.

It became clear after the papers came back last week that little had changed, we also had further evidence that ran contrary to the proposals. However rather than listening to us, our Coalition partners decided to meet with the Liberals and Conservatives to try and secure a majority in favour for the vote in exchange for partnership in a new coalition. The SNP group decided yesterday morning before the meeting to leave the ruling group as a result.

Far from walking away we are aligning ourselves with our communities for the fight ahead.

Argyll First voted with the SNP so did 3 independents.
All the liberals and Conservatives voted for the consultation on closure to progress in exchange for new jobs in office....

[John S]

There is detail on For Argyll of the vote
http://forargyll.com/2010/11/school-clo ... hey-voted/

[Nancie]

It will be very interesting to see which councillors will benefit from voting for the proposal to go to consultation. Now that the SNP are out of the coalition there will be quite a few posts to fill, some with significant remuneration.

[D.H]

An interesting article from Forargyll.

http://forargyll.com/2010/11/school-closures-the-decline-and-fall-of-councillors-currie-and-colville/

Rory and his LibDem fellow Councillors are in for quite a public meeting at Southend Primary on Tuesday night at 8pm. Shooting yourself in the foot by U-turning to gain power brings another LibDem to mind. Maybe he has been taking Nick Clegg's tactics too literally.

[mrn]

I read a post this morning from Sandy and Catherine about some issue with a sign and didn't have a clue what it was about but now I can't see it.

As the say "am a' gaun droll???"

[Kintyre Forum News]

I read a post this morning from Sandy and Catherine about some issue with a sign and didn't have a clue what it was about but now I can't see it.

As the say "am a' gaun droll???"

No don't wory MRN, your not going "droll". I read it too but appears the poster has now removed it.

Can anyone update us on how last night's meeting went?

[D.H]

Hi,

Yes there was a post earlier but I think the authors must have deleted it. The meeting was very heated last night and Rory said something about the authors that upset them. I think Rory has been round to see them since them and I think that they must have resolved things. The remark related to Rory thinking that Robert Millar had gone behind his back to get a sign put up opposite his farm entrance on the authors' land, embarrassing the authors - which it did not - as they support saving Southend Primary.

Cllr Colville did at least turn up last night unlike his two colleagues who could not make it to Southend because of the weather. They managed to get to Kilmory though.

From the community's point of view we are very frustrated that Rory agreed with us that the proposal to close Southend Primary School is deeply flawed and inaccurate and we all left a meeting on Tuesday the 23rd Nov thinking that he would vote against it. Literally one minute before the Council meeting started on the 25th it was discovered that Rory and his colleagues would vote to accept the proposals that the vast majority of the communities see as deeply flawed to allow the schools closures to go on to the legal stage of consultation. For Southend this feels like being stabbed in the back. It is also interesting to note that once the SNP withdrew from the Council's ruling Executive over the schools issue it didn't take long for the LibDems to fill the vacuum. The LibDems will be part of the ruling Executive from Monday.

This means that instead of returning the documents to the inept Education Dept (where people are paid very good money) to revise with realistic costs, timings, capacities, and research that actually backs their assumptions rather than contradicts them, the pressure and stress has been shifted to us as communities to produce cost savings and prove inaccuracies. The Councillors threw out the original proposals on Nov 2nd because the communities had already told them of the inaccuracies and the Education Dept returned with the same info padded out a bit more. It is interesting that the Education Dept bosses haven't looked at cutting management jobs or placing core Education staff in existing schools to save money. Better to close half used Education offices and sell them off than close viable schools I think.

Rory's view is that once the HMIE get involved and the communities put forward their evidence Southend Primary will be saved as the proposal won't stack up. My view is that this process is costing the Council millions and putting unfair stress on communities and the children - yes some of the children are really upset and worried - especially as getting info out of the Education Dept is like pulling teeth. I agree that once the proposal is scrutinized and evidence given the proposal will be withdrawn. Why waste the money in the first place?

I, for one, could well have done with not having to go to a meeting when I would much rather be tucking my son up in his bed on his birthday. You can imagine how pleased we are to have this hanging over ours heads over Christmas.

Rory stated to us that once this process is over we can judge as to whether he made the right choice or whether he is 'mince'. I think the overall impression is that he is mince.

[Nancie]

[quote="D.H"]Hi,

Cllr Colville did at least turn up last night unlike his two colleagues who could not make it to Southend because of the weather. They managed to get to Kilmory though.

Deirdre, could I just clarify that the two colleagues were Rory's Lib Dem colleagues - Ellen Morton who apparently will become the new Depute Leader and Education spokesperson and Alison Hay whose own school Minard is up for closure. Not sure if Alison will have a new post come Monday but time will tell.

[macmach]

Rory stated to us that once this process is over we can judge as to whether he made the right choice or whether he is 'mince'. I think the overall impression is that he is mince.

I think that is a little bit harsh. From what I have heard, and certainly read, schools have to close so why prolong the agony and get on with it. Someone is going to suffer and it is amazing that the SNP who were part of the initial proposals are now jumping ship. Like drowning rats they are.

[D.H]

Rory stated to us that once this process is over we can judge as to whether he made the right choice or whether he is 'mince'. I think the overall impression is that he is mince.

I think that is a little bit harsh. From what I have heard, and certainly read, schools have to close so why prolong the agony and get on with it. Someone is going to suffer and it is amazing that the SNP who were part of the initial proposals are now jumping ship. Like drowning rats they are.

Hi macmach

To me this is not particularly a party political issue..although a lot of party deals appear to have been made on all sides.

There are two main issues:

1. Cllr Colville attended a public meeting in Southend two days before the vote where he made clear that he agreed that the proposals were deeply flawed and that the Education Dept had failed in it task. He agreed with everything that was discussed. Every single person left that meeting thinking that Cllr Colville was going to vote against the proposal. We are all deeply shocked that he appears to have duped us.

2. Cllr Colville has acknowledged that the information is flawed, on not just the proposal for Southend but for the whole portfolio. The next stage for us is that the community must compromise our time at work and with our families over the next few months (including Xmas) to put together the evidence to prove not just what we have proved wrong already, but also other flaws that we are waiting to get the evidence from the Council under Freedom of Information to prove. We are pretty confident in proving Southend's case (and a large number of schools on the hit list) once HMIE gets involved, but this whole process costs time and money. So Cllr Colville has committed the Council to spend more money (presumably millions) on servicing flawed proposals for viable and valuable schools that will be proved so by the HMIE and the hard work of the communities. If the Scottish Govt feel that the process has been operated inappropriately - and frankly I think that can be proved from the assumptions and data proved by the Education Dept not stacking up. The Govt could throw the whole portfolio back at the Council. So the Council will be back to square one leaving communities angry, children upset, communities losing families (one family has already pulled out of a property sale once they found out the school was under threat), and many millions spent. This is a waste and it will affect the money available for education for the wider communities. What we thought should happen is that the Education Dept should be held to account for their arbitrary and flawed proposals (they had a chance to revise them with evidence given) and that a realistic list should be drawn up with the likes of St Kieran's Primary on it. Some schools on the list will cost more to close than to keep open because the figures are wrong and valuable subsidies will be lost.

I would suggest that you come down to the next public meeting in Southend when it is arranged as I think you will be quite surprised at the widespread frustration at being mislead so blatantly by Rory and for wasting so much money on this flawed process that will, most likely, be sent back to the Council by the HMIE and the Scottish Govt.