Proposal to Close Milton of Balgonie Primary School and to Rezone the Catchment Areas of Coaltown of Balgonie, Pitteuchar East and Thornton Primary Schools

Overview

Milton of Balgonie Primary School – Notice Published on Fife Council Website on Monday 17^th June 2024

Closure of Milton of Balgonie Primary School

Notice of Decision of Fife Council and Notification of Scottish Ministers and Call-in Procedure

On 6 June 2024, following statutory consultation in terms of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, the Cabinet Committee of Fife Council approved the proposal to close Milton of Balgonie Primary School on 19 August 2024 and to rezone the catchment areas of Coaltown of Balgonie, Pitteuchar East and Thornton Primary Schools from Monday 19 August 2024.  The Minute of the full decision can be viewed download-document-sharepoint (fife.gov.uk). The Agenda and Papers for the Committee can be viewed CCPublicAgendaPack2024-06-06.pdf (fife.gov.uk)

The decision was then subject to the Council’s internal governance procedures and became a final decision of the Council at 12 noon on Thursday 13 June 2024.

Milton of Balgonie Primary School is a rural school.  As required by the Act, when formulating the closure proposal, the Education Authority identified its reasons for formulating the proposal as follows:

(a) Milton of Balgonie Primary School has had no pupils enrolled for academic sessions 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/2024.
(b) There are no pupils enrolled in Milton of Balgonie Primary School for session 2023/24. The one pupil due to enrol for primary 1, living in the catchment area, has chosen to attend an alternative school following a placing request application. Overall, the current number of primary age pupils living in the Milton of Balgonie catchment area is 13.
(c) Milton of Balgonie Primary School has been formally mothballed since January 2021. The school building is currently being maintained by Property Services to ensure it is wind and watertight.
(d) Updated birth information has shown that the births in the catchment area have not significantly increased in the last year and there is no other anticipated significant increased growth in the pupil population in the catchment area from, for example, large scale housing development of over 100 units.
(e) Milton of Balgonie Primary School does not meet the Fife Council guiding principles as outlined in paragraph 3.1 of this proposal.

Following the statutory consultation on the proposal, the Education Authority remained and remains satisfied that implementation of the proposal is the most appropriate response to the reasons for formulating the proposal.  It is the only viable way to provide sustainable education for the communities of Milton of Balgonie, Coaltown of Balgonie, Pitteuchar East and Thornton Primary School catchment areas.  The closure of Milton of Balgonie Primary School and the rezoning of the catchment areas of Coaltown of Balgonie, Pitteuchar East and Thornton Primary Schools will sustain the long-term rolls at the remaining schools, as well as meeting the occupancy rate of above 60%.  There are no reasonable alternatives to the proposal.  The Consultation Report which contains further information on these matters and includes the Proposal Document at Appendix A can be found Final Report - Milton Balgonie PS closure (fife.gov.uk).

As required, the Council has now notified Scottish Ministers of the decision in accordance with Sections 11A(3), 15(2) and 15(2A) of the 2010 Act.

The Act now allows for any person to make representations either against or in support of the decision to Scottish Ministers within 3 weeks of the Council’s final decision to implement the proposal. Therefore, any representations must be made to Scottish Ministers by midnight 3 July 2024.

Anyone wishing to make representation to Scottish Ministers during the 3-week period ending at midnight on 3 July 2024 referred to above should do so by email to schoolclosure@gov.scot or in writing to:

The Scottish Government
School Infrastructure Unit
Area 2B (North)
Victoria Quay
EDINBURGH
EH6 6QQ

The Scottish Ministers have an 8-week period from the date of the Council’s final decision to decide if they will call-in the decision. Any call-in by the Scottish ministers will only apply to the closure of Milton of Balgonie Primary School. Within the first 3 weeks of the 8-week period, the Scottish Ministers will take account of any relevant representations made to them by any person. The Scottish Ministers can issue a call-in notice if they consider the Council has failed in a significant regard to comply with the requirements of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, which are relevant to the closure proposal, or if they consider the Council has failed to take proper account of a material consideration relevant to its decision to implement the proposal. Unless the Scottish Ministers inform the Council they do not intend to call-in the proposal by the end of the 8-week period, the Council will not proceed to implement the proposal during the 8-week period. Until the outcome of any call-in has been notified to the Council, it is unable to procced to implement the proposal. If the Scottish Ministers decide to call-in a closure proposal, they must refer it to the Convener of the School Closure Review Panel for determination by a School Closure Review Panel. The Council may not then implement the proposal in whole or in part unless the Panel has granted consent to it (with or without conditions) and either an appeal to the Sheriff has expired or, if an appeal has been made, it has either been abandoned or the Sheriff has confirmed the Panel’s decision.

The Scottish Government website provides more information on this process at

www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Schools/Buildings/changestoschoolestate

Further information is also available by contacting the Education Directorate at sustainableschoolestate.enquiries@fife.gov.uk or in writing to:

Education Directorate
4th Floor West
Fife House
North Street
GLENROTHES
Fife
KY7 5LT