Decision details

The Cabinet Member (Children and Families) submitted a report following a request from the Governing Body of Ribble Drive Primary School for the Local Authority to publish and consult on a statutory proposal to remove the nursery provision at the school. This would change the age range of the school from 3-11years to 4-11years.

Cabinet had deferred making a decision on the previous report (28 June 2017) to allow further information to be provided by Ribble Drive Primary School regarding an informal consultation conducted prior to the publication of the proposal. The additional information was provided in Appendix 2 of the report submitted.

The proposal for the closure of the nursery provision at the school was published by the Council on 18 April 2017 and set out arrangements for those affected by the proposal to make their views known. The closing date for comments was 16 May 2017.

The meeting was attended by a grandparent of a child at the nursery and staff members that would be affected by a decision to close the provision.

The Chair invited members of the public present to speak on the proposal.

Mrs Hyde stated that she was not satisfied with the outcome of the meetings and emails exchanged with officers following the meeting of Cabinet on 28 June 2017 because questions had been left unanswered. Mrs Hyde maintained her belief that the process and manner with which the school had approached the proposed closure of the nursery was flawed and based on incorrect information. The informal consultation of parents carried out by the school in the playground had not included all parents and some had been left unaware of the proposal. The school had passed letters to parents on the proposal via their children on the last day of the school term in April, which had the potential that the letter may not be read, could be lost or only opened on the first day of the new term, leaving limited time to respond properly. The nursery was a community asset and provided a valuable service for local families. It was suggested that the decision to close the nursery had been made by the school in November 2016 but additional children had been taken on in January 2017. Children had settled well at the nursery and made friends only for their parents to be informed that they would need to find another nursery from September. The school had appointed new staff to work in the nursery and moved staff from the primary school and now they were being made redundant. Mrs Hyde stated that she did not feel the school had acted in an honest or open manner during the process.

The Chair thanked the members of the public for their input and directed that an officer to notify the school of the comments and issues that had been raised.

The Cabinet Member (Children and Families) explained that the role of the Cabinet was to consider the proposal made by the Governing body of the school to close the nursery. Cabinet would make a decision having been satisfied that the process within the statutory guidance had been correctly followed.

Delegated decisions:

1.     That the published proposal to close the nursery provision at Ribble Drive Primary School as determined by the school’s Governing Body, with effect from 1 September 2017, be approved.

2.     That the comments made and issues raised in respect of the process followed by the school be forwarded to the Headteacher of Ribble Drive Primary school.

Reasons for the decision:

Cabinet accepts that the case set out by the Governing Body in its proposal, satisfies the requirements as stated within the statutory guidance.

Other option considered and rejected:

To not make a decision and refer consideration to the Schools Adjudicator