Proposed Closure of Southend Primary School for Nov 2nd

[MattM]

Good Afternoon Asymetric,

I think you misunderstood a little that I was making a political point more than a personal one. Though I will comfortably admit there are some personal issues here.

The Donald Kelly I knew was plain Mr Kelly many years ago when the Council tried to close Drumlemble School. He had anger, passion, and was fired up to sort out a bad Council proposal. I recall standing shoulder to shoulder with Donald in Main Street with many many others. Petitions were signed, leaflets handed out, letters written, and eventually Drumlemble School was saved and kept open. Donald was, as we all know, even elected to the Council soon after.

Fast forward to now, and Asymetric I hope you can understand my concern? We have definite Council proposals to close Southend School along with 24 others. I am generally a Conservative voter, so have voted for, and would normally vote for Donald Kelly. However, I cannot help but feel an unfathomable amount of respect for the SNP. Whilst I am stoically against the SNP Independence issue, the SNP A&B Councillors have shown a huge amount of political guts in making the primary school closures as important an issue as it should be....

http://forargyll.com/2010/11/exclusive- ... proposals/

They have sacrificed political power and office on this point of principle.

With regard to your disgust at what I wrote. I hope this posting clarifies why I am so angry? Perhaps we can share our disgust and direct it at the proposed Argyll & Bute Council plan to close Southend Primary School?

As for Councillor Kelly. He should be commended for the 10% personal cut in his Council remuneration. But this should be donated to the Council Education Budget, then ringfenced. In fact, and this is perhaps where the above two posters have me wrong, it is for example the WHOLE Argyll & Bute car-travel expenses (staff and councillor) that should be cut by 25%. This should go to Education.

You ask for suggestions..... Any management within Argyll & Bute Council senior staff with a salary above £50,000 should have anything above £50,000 cut by 25% and that put to the Education Budget. ALL Councillors should have a 25% reduction and this put to the Education Budget.

WHY ? ? ?

Well in my humble opinion local authorities exist to protect local services. One of THE most important of those in any village is the school. There are plenty of highly paid senior managers at Argyll & Bute Council, and if they cannot figure out a way to STOP this appalling cull of the innocent, then they should resign. The SNP Councillors did it with dignity.

Anyone worth their salt will put children into the financial lifeboats before their own financial interest ? ? ?

What I am really uncomfortable with is how the Conservatives appear to have gone into coalition at Argyll & Bute and seem willing to hold power at the sacrifice of schools in the community.

As for our friend Donald, I just wish he would show the fire, anger and passion to STOP his Council closing schools in the way he did all those years ago when Drumlemble School was threatened with closure. He made his political reputation then.

He could well lose his political reputation if he doesn't STOP this terrible school closure policy now.

Worse for Donald, if he is seen to go along with this school closure plan, I think the parents in Southend will not forgive him, and I know there is at least one local person willing to stand for Argyll & Bute Council in his ward if Southend School is closed.

The primary reason for this post isn't about Donald. Yes he figures in it, because he has the key voting power to stop this school closure plan. No this is about a much more important thing than Asymetric, myself, this website forum or any councillor's future in paid public office.

It is about protecting the future of our children and safeguarding local communities.

Matt.

[Asymetric]

Matt M,

Not being a political person myself, but what have you been reading and where have you been?

Cllr Kelly is part of the Argyll First Group, NOT the conservative group that joined the "COALITION".

He and Argyll First voted with the SNP to throw out the proposals.

As far as I am aware Argyll First rejected SNP's original proposals for an amendment which were also deeply flawed.

I think you will also find that it was Donald who seconded the SNP's second attempt at an amendment which was to scrap the current list of flawed proposals.

For the avoidence of all doubt, I shall tell you how the local Councillors voted.

Councillors who voted to scrap the current list of flawed proposals:

Donald Kelly - Argyll First
John Semple - SNP

Councillor who voted to put the current proposals out to consultation:

Rory Colville - Liberal Democrats

I agree that the SNP earned our respect when they walked away from the proposals, but they should have done so a lot earlier than they did "appearing to ride to the aid of the communities". A cute political move but far to little too late for many people!

EXERT FROM FOR ARGYLL
[i]"While their own behaviour has been exemplary, this Argyll First initiative is doomed to fail since the fable of greedy paws stuck in jars has been the motivating force of much that has gone on in the murky confines of Argyll and Bute Council in the past few weeks.

Argyll First is the only group of councillors to have been totally consistent on their stance regarding the school estate. The three councillors in the group refused to back the SNP’s original amendment. This proposed to remove 14 schools from the list of those threatened with closure, leaving the remainder to go to consultation. The group’s stance was that there could be no logic in arguing that flaws in the proposals were grounds for removing 14 schools but not adequate to removing them all – fundamental flaws being fundamental flaws.

The group will not support the use of flawed papers. The Argyll First group is to meet with Argyll Rural Schools Network and with the Scottish Rural Schools Network team in the very near future and will continue to support all viable Rural Schools."[i]



Still, I hope this has cleared things up for you Matt.

[MattM]

Hello Asymetric,

Thankyou for that. I should have used the past tense. Was it not the case that Councillor Kelly stood on the Conservative ticket when he first went into Argyll & Bute Council? Seems Donald did a Sir Winston Churchill and moved across the political floor. I confess to having missed that one. I am not that into politicians. Though am into political decisions. Really appreciate your assistance in clarifying who voted for what, and am a lot happier having read your helpful posting.

You are absolutely right about the LibDems.

The ForArgyll website covered this and it will be interesting to see how Alison Hay does. My politics is very creaky, and I stand to be corrected, but I think she has been selected for the 2011 Holyrood election for LibDem candidate as the A&B MSP? Between the Westminster LibDem Conservative coalition difficulties and with the backdrop of mass local school closures in Argyll & Bute, Mike Russell will be more confident than might otherwise be the case.

Matt.

[D.H]

I can confirm that Cllr Kelly and Cllr Semple are actively helping the community of Southend fight this closure. Cllr Colville has offered his help but I, for one, feel this is a bit hollow when he 'helped' us last time by voting against our wishes to go to consultation rather than sending the flawed proposals back to be drawn up with proper and realistic proposals.

After the New Year the Southend Community will be back out asking for signatures for our petition online http://www.petitiononline.com/Oct2010/petition.html or on paper if people haven't signed it yet. If anyone wants sheets to take to round their friends or workplace please send me a message and I'll email them to you.

We would ask that people who can support us, and any of the other schools, to respond to this consultation after the meeting on the 17th January in Southend Primary School at 7pm https://www.education.ea.argyll-bute.sch.uk/schoolconsultations/documents/Dates_times_and_Venues_for_Public_Meetings4.pdf. I will post something after that date for guidance. The consultation runs until the 24th Feb.

I see that the Council is feeling a bit upset that parents should question the ridiculous statements and figures presented as facts http://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/news/2010/dec/council-slams-negative-tactics-argyll-rural-schools-network.
It is just a pity that the Councillors didn't do their homework before voting for the proposals as they are making the Council a laughing stock whilst wasting our precious money.

[Barney McGrew]

I can confirm that Cllr Kelly and Cllr Semple are actively helping the community of Southend fight this closure. Cllr Colville has offered his help but I, for one, feel this is a bit hollow when he 'helped' us last time by voting against our wishes to go to consultation rather than sending the flawed proposals back to be drawn up with proper and realistic proposals.

Would expect nothing less of our local councilors suporting a school that should never have been on the list of schools up for closure.
But I think the Southend action group are making a big mistake in not wanting Councilor Colvilles help. I think it was a poor decision by the Lib dems to support the proposal to put the 25 schools to consultation one that I think will come back to haunt them in the future but whats done is done. I would have thought that every vote to keep the school open was important and that Councillor Colville was the very person to convince his fellow lib dems to support Southend school. Better to work with him if he's keen to help.

[D.H]

Yes I think the group welcomes help from anyone who can add weight to keeping not just Southend Primary open but also the other viable Primary schools. As I said Cllr Colville has offered his help and we are glad of any help. The best help that he could give us is to acknowledge that he was wrong to support these sexed up proposals and bring the process back to the Councillors with a view of halting the process and starting with documents that add up, make sense, and don't abuse the term 'consultation'.

[D.H]

After a specially convened Council meeting (called by Argyll First and SNP Cllrs)this afternoon on the school estate, the Cllrs voted 18 to 15 to shelve the school proposals and to return with a new list in March. I understand that the Education Spokesperson will meet with communities of the schools affected at the meetings that were planned for the official consultation.

I'll update more when I have it..or anyone else can who has more information.

Here is the link to the Council's own press release http://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/news/2011/jan/council-suspends-school-estate-review-consultation

[Kintyre Forum News]

Council suspends school estate review consultation

Argyll and Bute Council has agreed to suspend consultation on its proposals to reduce the size of its school estate through a programme of mergers and revisit its review of the primary school estate.

The decision has been taken following the Scottish Government’s announcement that Argyll and Bute’s grant settlement will be reduced by 4.94%, almost twice the national average of 2.6%. Argyll and Bute Council will receive £220.059 million in 2011-12 from the Scottish government, compared with £231.488 million - a drop of £11.429m.

Allowing for inflation and other cost pressures, this means the council faces a total budget shortfall of at least £15 million in 2011-12.

In addition, the Scottish Government’s settlement only applies to one year, so the council needs to consider the impact of a single-year settlement against its own medium-term financial plans.

The consultation process on the school estate has been suspended with immediate effect and all public meetings connected to the consultation which were scheduled to take place in January and February have been cancelled.

Councillor Ellen Morton, the council’s recently appointed spokesperson for education and lifelong learning, requested the process be re-examined after she took up her new position on 6 December and reviewed the proposals. Since her appointment Councillor Morton has visited schools and reviewed feedback already received as part of the consultation process.

Councillor Morton will now oversee a total review of the school estate, including all primary schools, not just those featured in the recent proposals.

Submissions already made to the consultation process will be considered as part of the new review.

Councillor Morton, spokesperson for education, explained the decision:

“Confirmation from the Scottish Government that our settlement is significantly lower than we expected means there has been a material change of circumstances which surround the decision made by council on 25 November. As a result we have agreed to suspend consultation on our school amalgamation proposals immediately.

“The proposals we have were developed by the previous spokesperson for education. I’ve given them careful consideration and, in light of the new information we have relating to our settlement it’s right we re-visit our review of the primary school estate.

“I’m committed to developing a successful future for education in Argyll and Bute in these difficult times and intend to take a very hands-on approach. I’ve already been to visit some of the schools mentioned in the proposals and will visit more.

“And I’ve spent time looking at the consultation submissions received so far from parents, community groups and other organisations. I’m grateful for the information they’ve sent in and want to reassure them that everything received so far has been read and will help me as I review the proposals.

“However, suspending the current consultation process does not change the fact that the council is facing unprecedented financial challenges. Our cut in grant funding from the Scottish Government is twice as high as the national average. We have to make significant savings in 2011 and beyond. The education service cannot be exempt from the cuts which all council services face.

“I want everyone to be clear that our decision to suspend the current process allows us reconsider our review of the entire primary school estate and that the suspension will not impact on our plans to implement decisions in October 2011. I am in no doubt that we still have very difficult decisions ahead of us.”

The decision to suspend the consultation process was taken at a special council meeting held on 5 January.

The council will consider its budget for 2011 at a meeting on 10 February. Revised proposals for the school estate will be presented to council at its meeting on 3 March, for implementation in October 2011.

-ends-

Notes to editors:

· Argyll and Bute Council initially calculated its proposals to amalgamate 25 schools would generate savings of £1.9m
· The council agreed to consult on its proposals at a meeting held on 25 November 2010
· The council’s education service accounts for 29% of the budget - £80 million
· The education service has a target to reduce its budget by 15% (£12 million) over the next three years.
· The council will receive a grant of £220.059 million in 2011-12 from the Scottish government. In 2010-11 the council received £231.488 million, a drop of £11.429 million.
· Allowing for inflation and other cost pressures, this means the council faces a total budget shortfall of at least £15 million in 2011-12.
· Across Scotland the average grant reduction is 2.59%. Argyll and Bute Council’s allocation will reduce by 4.94%.
· Councils must present a balanced budget each year.
· Argyll and Bute Council currently operates 80 primary schools, 10 secondary schools and one learning centre.
· 59% of primary schools have an occupancy of less than half, which compares unfavourably with the national average of 20%.
· Argyll and Bute schools have rolls ranging from 0 to 1400.
· The annual cost of educating a pupil in schools in Argyll and Bute ranges from £3,000 per pupil to in excess of £30,000 per pupil.
· The council has already identified £7.5 million of potential savings across other service areas.

[John S]

Total U turn by the administration. No matter how Ellen Morton try's to paint it, the paper produced by SRSN and brought to this special council meeting, which was forced and organised by the SNP with cross party support, was too embarrassing for them to brush aside. It proves we were right and they were wrong - the proposals were fundamentally flawed.

[Nancie]

Well done to local councillors John Semple and Donald Kelly for uniting to oppose the flawed proposals for closing 25 schools in Argyll and Bute. This must be a great relief for all parents involved although they couldn't have had much of a Christmas.

In a local authority which is, according to them, cash strapped, it would be interesting to find out how much money was wasted on drawing up these proposals. Surely someone should be held to account for this or, more realistically, be promoted. Watch this space.

[Kintyre Forum News]

Official response from the Council to SRSN presentation. You have to wonder why it takes a week just to make this response!

Council responds to Scottish Rural Schools Network presentation

Argyll and Bute Council received a detailed presentation from the Scottish Rural Schools Network at its meeting on 5 January 2011. Due to the issue of their papers during the holiday period, there was insufficient time for council officers to prepare a response on the day.

The presentation was made after the council made the decision to suspend its consultation on proposals to merge some primary school and to present new proposals on 3 March 2011.

Councillor Ellen Morton, spokesperson for education said:

“We’re grateful to the Scottish Rural Schools Network for the time and effort they spent pulling together their presentation although on first seeing the proposal I’m confident not all of their claims are accurate. We will now take the time to read their presentation in detail and prepare our response. It would be wrong to give a knee-jerk reaction to a presentation which was lengthy and claimed a lot of detail”

[D.H]

The Southend Community had quite a productive meeting on Monday night with Cllr Ellen Morton (Deputy Leader and Education Spokesperson), with well over a 100 people attending, including Cllr Colville and Cllr Semple. During the day Cllr Morton was taken around the roads that the children travel on to get to Southend School so that she could see the types of roads and the sprawling layout of the routes.

At the meeting Cllr Morton stated that she was looking at all Primary Schools across Argyll except island schools, where only one Primary existed, and the brand new schools. She is visiting as many schools as possible to meet parents and community members to get a picture of how the school fits into the community and to see the schools themselves. I commend any Education Spokesperson for taking the time to do this and the community hope that as a result the Council Officers will be unable to manipulate the lists of schools and the data about them. The only concern that I have is that 10 years ago Cllr Morton was very vocal about trying to actively close all rural schools. The new proposals, to be produced in March, will be the proof of whether this is a genuine and open process or just another fudging to save money in the short term to the detriment of the children and their communities.

We handed her our petition which has 975 signatures on it from Southend and across Kintyre. The community thanks all those who signed the paper copies or filled out the online petition.

[mrn]

Any reason why Councilor Donald Kelly wasn't present? Haven't heard any update on Glenbarr, did Ms Morton attend there too?

[D.H]

Good news for us at Southend Primary School where the new Council list of proposed schools to close does not include the Southend Primary School. I am sure that all parents and members of the community would like to thank everyone who supported the campaign.

Still on the list in Kintyre is a proposal to 'amalgamate':

St Kierans to Castlehill

Rhunahaorine to Glenbarr

Clachan to Tarbert

Skipness to Tarbert

I feel for the parents of the children attending these schools as the process of 'pre-consultation' will now start for them.

http://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/news/2011/feb/additional-consultation-proposed-school-estate-review

[Mr.Everready]

Good news and the right decision for Southend.

PS Didn't St. Kierans close last year ?