Clause 11
Education and Inspections Bill
12:00 pm
Anne Snelgrove (PPS (Lord Warner, Minister of State), Department of Health; South Swindon, Labour)
I want to raise briefly some points that have arisen from correspondence that I have had with Wiltshire education authority on federated schools. I support the concept; it offers opportunities to solve the problems that will occur when school rolls fall and we have to consider closures. In particular, Wiltshire has had difficulties with small rural schools, which it has raised with me. A number of the children in my constituency go across the border to Wiltshire schools, and I want to raise the matter on their behalf.
Federations enable small rural schools to remain open, and Wiltshire has enthusiastically pursued the concept in order to keep rural communities going. However, it believes that this clause and clause 7 might prevent it from continuing to do so. I should appreciate an opportunity to discuss the matter further with the Minister in private in order to ensure that Wiltshire is afforded every opportunity to carry on federating as it is doing. The Bill should not prevent authorities from finding creative solutions to federating schools so that they may remain open. I am sure that all hon. Members would regret it if that were to happen.
The difficulty is that when schools federate as some have done, the Department for Education and Skills says that they have to announce a school’s closure. That is putting some schools and governing bodies off federating, and might lead—in some cases, has led—to the closure of small rural schools, which have been unable to remain open without federation. I shall be very interested in the Minister’s comments. My summary might not be exactly correct, but I think that I have the gist: Wiltshire and other rural LEAs should be able to federate in order to keep their schools open.