I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Chichester (Mr. Nelson) on obtaining the Adjournment debate on the possible closure of Elsted school. I am pleased to be able to reply to him. He has spoken tonight about a subject in which many hon. Members on both sides of the House have taken a close interest recently and, in doing so, has shown again the keen and diligent way in which he represents his constituents' interests.

My hon. Friend has referred to the possible closure of Elsted primary school. I shall come to that in a moment, but there are a number of important educational and financial considerations which underlie the closure of any school, rural or urban, which need to be considered. I shall try, in the time available, to discuss those, too. Finally, there are particular considerations that apply to village schools, and I would like to say something about them.

With regard to Elsted primary school, I was careful to talk of its "possible closure". There are detailed procedures enshrined in law that have to be observed before any school can be closed, but, in the case of Elsted school, these procedures have yet to be set in train. Before going on to discuss the underlying considerations I mentioned earlier, perhaps I might outline the statutory procedures that are set out in section 12 of the Education Act 1980. When a local education authority decides that it wishes to cease to maintain a school—whether it be a county school or a voluntary one — it must publish locally notice of what it is proposing and submit the proposals to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. There then follows a two-month period when objections may be submitted to the local education authority. Those who have a statutory right to object are defined in the Act as 10 or more local government electors, the governors of any voluntary school and any local education authority that might be affected by the proposals.

If there are objections, the authority must send them to my right hon. Friend within one month of the expiry of the notices with its observations and my right hon. Friend must then consider the proposals on their merits and make his decision accordingly. If there are no objections, the authority may, in the case of county schools, determine to implement the proposals without reference to my right hon. Friend unless he has informed the authority that he wishes to decide the proposals irrespective of whether objections have been made. This power to call in proposals was always intended to be used sparingly.

In the case of voluntary schools — Elsted is a voluntary school—any proposals to cease to maintain a school automatically require the approval of my right hon. Friend, whether or not there have been objections. I have noted all that my hon. Friend the Member for Chichester has said about the Elsted school, but it is not possible for me to make any comment about its future at the moment. Proposals under section 12 for its closure have yet to be published, although I understand that the West Sussex education authority intends to do so before long. I trust that my hon. Friend will have taken careful note of the Secretary of State's role—it is a quasi-judicial one, and I must be careful today that anything I say will not prejudice the decision which may be his to make.

Let me just say that when my right hon. Friend considers any proposals before him he has to take account of all the relevant factors. These factors include the educational and financial merits of the proposals, the statutory objections and the edcuation authority's comments upon them and his own general policies on education as set out, for instance, in circulars 2/80, 2/81 and 4/82. I might also add, as an aside, that representations are sometimes made in favour of particular school closures. Surprising though this may seem at first sight, some deputations brought by hon. Members on both sides of the House support the local education authority's view that a school should be closed so that other schools can achieve the viability of pupil numbers which would result. My right hon. Friend will also take account of such representations when they are made. His decision is taken only after the most careful consideration of all the relevant issues.

Let me say a word or two here about the amalgamation or merger of schools. There is in fact no specific provision within the Education Acts to effect an amalgamation. Such an effect can and frequently is achieved, however, by proposals to cease to maintain two schools, and to establish one new school in their place. The new school will have a new legal identity, a new instrument and articles of government.

My hon. Friend the Member for Chichester referred to the decline in school population. What is frequently overlooked is that by end of the decade the size of the school population will have fallen by a quarter, and demographic changes on that scale inevitably present new challenges and problems for the education service. Furthermore, even on the highest assumptions of numbers of births, the present school population will not be reached again — if at all — before the very last years of this century. This fall in the birth rate compounds the effects of the quite separate demographic changes affecting the rural population.

It is sometimes alleged that it is Government policy to close village schools. That is not so. We believe that there are strong arguments on many fronts for taking out of use surplus places and for taking advantage of falling rolls by rationalising primary and secondary school stock. Circular 2/81 put these arguments to LEAs and emphasised my right hon. Friend's belief that they apply in urban and rural areas alike. It is for each local education authority to review its own provision in the light of its own needs and priorities and to make such statutory proposals as it judges necessary. It is then, where appropriate, for my right hon. Friend to consider such proposals on their merits.

Let me repeat that proposals for the closure of Elsted primary school have yet to be submitted by the West Sussex education authority. If and when the proposals are published and submitted to my right hon. Friend, there will be, as I said earlier, two months from the date of their publication for objectors to lodge their objections with the authority. Since Elsted is a voluntary school, the proposals will come before my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for decision. There will, of course, be opportunties for my hon. Friend to bring deputations and for them to put their point of view. I assure him and his constituents that all their arguments will be carefully considered by my right hon. Friend, along with the other considerations that will weigh in this case, before he reaches his decision. For the present, it would not be right for me to offer any opinion or further comment on this case lest I be thought to be prejudicing any decision that my right hon. Friend may have to make.

I end, as I started, by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Chichester on his success in obtaining this debate and on placing on record his views about this proposal.