Proposals and consultation for education provision at Straloch Primary School

As of Friday 31 March 2017, Straloch Primary School has been permanently closed.

This decision follows the completion of a statutory consultation undertaken in line with the requirements of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. The decision was not called-in by Scottish Ministers and the Council received consent to implement its decision on Wednesday 22 March 2017.

The former Straloch catchment area has been permanently rezoned to Kirkmichael Primary School.  Any queries should be sent to the contact details kept on the Kirkmichael Primary School page.

The Lifelong Learning Committee on 25 August 2010 approved Report no 10 426 (PDF, 289 KB).

Another report Report no 11 254 (PDF, 5 MB) was approved by the Lifelong Learning Committee on 1 June 2011.  This report presented an options appraisal and a proposal paper containing an Educational Benefits Statement, in respect of Straloch Primary School.  

A further report Deferment of Consultations for Straloch and Struan Primary Schools Report No 11/430 (PDF, 546 KB) was approved by the Lifelong Learning Committee on 31 August 2011.  This report recommended the deferment of formal consultation on closure proposals for Straloch Primary School.  This recommendation followed the request in June 2011 by the Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning for a moratorium on rural school closures, while a Committee for the Delivery of Rural Education examined existing national regulations.

Therefore, from Monday 15 August 2011, Straloch Primary School was "mothballed".  (This is a Scottish Government term which means that operations in a school have been suspended with pupils zoned to another catchment area).  The Straloch catchment area has therefore been temporarily rezoned to Kirkmichael Primary School.  Any queries should be directed to:

The Headteacher of Kirkmichael Primary School, Tel 01520 871929, email: kirkmichael@pkc.gov.uk

Options Appraisal Update

Report 15/514 (PDF, 119 KB) was approved by Lifelong Learning Committee on 4 November 2015 to review and update the options appraisal for Straloch Primary School.

Perth & Kinross Council sought the local community's views and thoughts on the future of Straloch Primary School.

Informal community gathering events with staff from Education and Children's Services in attendance were held as follows:

As a result, Report No 16/230 presented a Proposal Paper (PDF, 692 KB) to the Lifelong Learning Committee on Wednesday 25 May 2016.  This Committee approved to commence formal consultation on the proposals with regard to the following:

• Education provision at Straloch Primary School be permanently discontinued with effect from 31 March 2017, or as soon as possible thereafter;
• That the pupils of Straloch Primary School catchment area permanently receive their education at Kirkmichael Primary School, from 1 April 2017 or as soon as possible thereafter; and
• That the delineated area of Kirkmichael Primary School be permanently extended to subsume the whole delineated area of Straloch Primary School from 1 April 2017.

Consultation was undertaken in line with the requirements of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.

The consultation period ran from Wednesday 17 August 2016 until Wednesday 28 September 2016.

A public notice (PDF, 161 KB) was placed in the local press.

Public Meetings

A public meeting was held to discuss the proposals and the proposal paper (PDF, 692 KB).  The meeting was an opportunity for interested parties to:

• Hear more about the proposals;
• Ask questions about the proposals; and
• Have their views recorded so that they could be taken into account as part of the consultation process.

Anyone wishing to attend was invited to do so. 

The public meeting was held as follows:

Publication of Consultation Report

The next stage of the consultation process is the publication of the report on the outcome and findings of the Statutory Consultation. The Consultation Report (PDF, 307 KB) is published from Friday 9 December 2016 until Monday 16 January 2017. This allows for a full three week review of the document prior to a final Lifelong Learning Committee decision on Wednesday 25 January 2017. 

This complies with Sections 11A to 13 of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, as amended.

Notice of Decision of Lifelong Learning Committee

The Lifelong Learning Committee considered the findings of the statutory consultation on 25 January 2017 and approved the implementation of the proposal to close Straloch Primary School and was satisfied to do so for the reasons set out in the Committee Report (17/39) and appendix in accordance with Section 11A(3) of the Schools Consultation (Scotland) Act 2010, as amended.

Notification and Representation to Scottish Ministers

As a result of the Lifelong Learning Committee's final decision made on 25 January 2017 to approve the proposal to close Straloch Primary School, the Council has notified Scottish Ministers of this decision in accordance with Section 15 (2) and 2(A) of the Schools Consultation (Scotland) Act 2010, as amended. 

The legislation allows for any person to make representations either against or to support the closure to Scottish Ministers within three weeks of the Council taking their final decision to implement a closure proposal. Any representations to Scottish Ministers need to be with the Ministers within three weeks of this date. Therefore, any representations must be made to Scottish Ministers by midnight on 14 February 2017.

Anyone wishing to make representation to Scottish Ministers during the three week period referred to above should do so by email to schoolestate@gov.scot or in writing to:

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

The Scottish Ministers have a period of eight weeks following an authority's decision in which to decide whether to call in the decision or not.

Further information is available by contacting:

The Schools Consultations Team
Tel: 01738 476218
Email: ECSStatutoryConsultations@pkc.gov.uk (please indicate Straloch Primary School in the email subject header)