In a Written Question to the Education Secretary, Charles Walker asks about criteria used to determine primary school closures.

Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria are used to determine primary school closures. [74698]

Jim Knight [holding answer 5 June 2006]: Changes to local school organisation, including school closures, are decided under local decision making arrangements. Individual proposals are determined by the local authority if they published the proposals and there are no objections. In all other cases the proposals are decided by the local School Organisation Committee (SOC) or the Schools Adjudicator, if the SOC cannot reach a unanimous decision.

SOCs and schools adjudicators must have regard to 'Decision Makers' Guidance' issued by the Secretary of State when deciding proposals. The guidance sets out a range of factors that must be considered for the different types of proposals but also stresses that all cases must be considered on their individual merits. For school closures the factors include: the impact on standards and diversity, the impact on the supply of school places, the cost effectiveness of the proposals, the impact on the community, the views of interested parties and the nature of the journey to any alternative provision.

The guidance also sets out a presumption against the closure of rural schools. The 'Decision Makers' Guidance' is available on the Department's School Organisation website at: www.dfes.gov.uk/school.org.

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