By Isle of Wight Observer
The long-running saga of the IW Council’s attempts to close Chillerton & Rookley Primary School looks set to continue amid allegations that education officers have once again failed to follow correct processes.
A formal complaint has been made to the council, following the cabinet’s decision last month to close the school. Advice obtained by a parent from the Department for Education (DfE) said that a new consultation is needed because more than a year has passed since the previous one, which closed in December 2021.
The complaint points out that significant changes have taken place since then, including the school being rated Good by Ofsted, changes to council policy and refers to the botched announcement that the council planned to consult on closing three other primary schools earlier this year. A complaint must go through the IW Council’s processes before it can be referred to the Local Government Ombudsman.
The council is also asked if ‘statutory guidance’ was followed and if not, why not. In August officers said: “The reference to 12 months is guidance and not mandatory. This is to ensure that decision makers can consider any new factors that may impact on the decision.” They appear to have made this up, as a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, by the IW Observer, revealed that they have “no written source” for the claim. The DfE’s website says: “Statutory guidance sets out what local authorities must do to comply with the law and must be followed unless there are very good reasons not to.”
Officers also refused to answer questions about whether they had consulted the DfE over their procedure; the FOI answers revealed they had not.
Keith Herbert of the Save our School group said: “This is the fourth time Hampshire officers have tried to close this rural primary school that is protected by a legal covenant and a presumption against closure according to DfE guidance. It is the second time they have incorrectly followed a statutory process and been called out.
“One has to wonder whether this is deliberate corner-cutting or a matter of competence.”