215.Section 80 inserts a number of new sections into the 2010 Act (sections 11A, 12A and a substituted section 13) which impose additional requirements on education authorities in terms of the process to be followed for rural school closure proposals. It also makes consequential amendments to section 12 of the 2010 Act (Factors for rural school closure proposals).
216.Subsection (1) of section 80 inserts a new section 11A (Presumption against rural school closure) into the 2010 Act. Section 11A(1) provides that section 11A only applies to closure proposals for rural schools (which are those designated as such under section 14 of the 2010 Act). Section 11A(2) prevents an education authority from making a decision to implement a closure proposal unless it has complied with the additional requirements that apply to rural schools in sections 12, 12A and 13, and having so complied, unless it is also satisfied that such a closure proposal is the most appropriate response to the reasons for formulating the proposal (which it is required to identify under section 12A(2)(a)). Section 11A(3) requires the authority to publish on its website notice of its decision as to implementation of the proposal, and where it decides to implement the proposal (wholly or partly), the reasons why it is satisfied that such implementation is the most appropriate response to the reasons for formulating the proposal identified by the authority under section 12A(2)(a).
217.Subsection (2)(a) amends section 12 of the 2010 Act (Factors for rural school closure proposals). It repeals subsection (3)(a), which provided for “any viable alternatives to the closure proposal” to be one of the factors to which an education authority must have special regard in proposing a rural school closure (new sections 12A and 13 to the 2010 Act make new provision requiring education authorities to consider alternatives to the closure proposal).
218.Subsections (2)(b) and (c) amend section 12(4) and (5) to provide that for the purpose of sections 12A(2)(c)(ii) and 13(5)(b)(iii) and of sections 12A(2)(c)(iii) and 13(5)(b)(iii), the effect on the community and the effect caused by any different travelling arrangements of any reasonable alternatives to the closure proposal which an education authority identifies or which are identified by consultees in their written representations on a closure proposal, must be assessed by reference to the factors specified in section 12(4) and (5).
219.These sections (sections 12A(2)(c)(ii) and (iii) and section 13(5)(b)(ii) and (iii)) require an education authority to assess, both when formulating a closure proposal and when carrying out a review of the proposal under section 9(1) respectively, the likely effect on the community and the likely effect caused by any different travelling arrangements, in relation to the closure proposal and reasonable alternatives to the proposal identified before and during the consultation process.
220.Subsection (3) of section 80 inserts a new section 12A (Preliminary requirements in relation to rural school closure) into the 2010 Act. This new provision outlines preliminary steps that an education authority must take before it can publish a proposal paper for the closure of a rural school.
221.Section 12A(2) requires the education authority to identify its reasons for the closure proposal (12A(2)(a)) and consider whether there are any reasonable alternatives to the proposal which could respond to those reasons (12A(2)(b)). For the proposal and each and any alternatives identified, the education authority is required to assess the likely educational benefits, the likely effect on the local community and the likely effect of different travelling arrangements (12A(2)(c)). Section 12A(3) provides that reasonable alternatives to the closure proposal may be steps or actions that could be taken which would not result in the school or part of the school closing. However, they are not limited to this and could also include alternative steps or actions that could be taken which would result in the school or part of the school closing.
222.Section 12A(4) places a duty on the education authority not to publish a proposal paper unless, following the consideration required under section 12A(2), it considers that implementation of the proposal is the most appropriate response to the reasons for the proposal.
223.Subsection (4) of section 80 substitutes a new section 13 (additional consultation requirements) into the 2010 Act. The new section 13 imposes more comprehensive and additional requirements on education authorities in consulting on a rural school closure proposal.
224.Section 13(2)(a) to (f) lists the additional information or explanations an education authority must include in a proposal paper for the closure of a rural school, over and above the information specified in section 4 of the 2010 Act. This requires the education authority to inform consultees of the reasons why the proposal is being made, the steps the education authority has taken (if any) to address those reasons (and if no such steps have been taken, why not), and any reasonable alternatives to the closure proposal identified by the authority, and it requires the authority to explain to the consultees their assessment under section 12A(2)(c) of the educational benefit, the effect on the community and effect of different travelling arrangements that would result from the proposal and any alternatives identified, and to explain the reasons why the authority considered, in light of that assessment, that implementation of the proposal would be the most appropriate response to the reasons for the proposal.
225.Section 13(3) provides that for rural school closure proposals, the notice an education authority must give to relevant consultees under section 6(1) of the 2010 Act must additionally summarise the alternatives to the closure proposal identified in the proposal paper and state that written representations can be made on those alternatives and that written representations can suggest other alternatives.
226.Section 13(4) provides that references to written representations in sections 8(4)(c), 9(4) and 10(2)(a) of the 2010 Act also include written representations regarding the alternatives to the proposal set out in the consultation paper.
227.Section 13(5) imposes additional assessment requirements on an education authority in terms of the review it must carry out of the proposal under section 9(1) of the 2010 Act (the review which follows the authority’s receipt of HMIE’s report after public consultation on the proposal). It is required, for rural school closure proposals, that the authority must carry out a further assessment in relation to the educational benefit, community effect and effect on travelling arrangements of the proposal and reasonable alternatives set out in the proposal paper following the receipt of the HMIE report, and that it must also carry out an assessment of any reasonable alternatives suggested by consultees in their written representations (section 13(5)(a) and (b)).
228.Section 13(6) provides that the consultation report the authority prepares under section 9(2) of the 2010 Act must additionally explain the assessments it makes under section 13(5)(a) and (b) and how these differ (if at all) from the authority’s assessment carried out before consultation (under section 12A(2)(c)). It must also explain whether and, if so, the reasons why the authority considers that implementation of the proposal (wholly or partly) would be the most appropriate response to the reasons for the proposal.
229.Subsection (5) of section 80 amends section 1 of the 2010 Act (overview of key requirements), inserting a new subsection (4A) which makes it clear that in the case of rural school closure proposals, the key requirements an education authority must comply with in formulating a closure proposal in relation to a rural school include complying with the preliminary and additional requirements set out in new sections 12A and 13.