Decision on closure of village school challenged
BBCA challenge to a council's decision to permanently close a village primary school after six decades is due to be heard this week.
It comes after Warwickshire County Council's cabinet voted to shut down Great Alne Primary School amid dwindling pupil numbers.
There has been a backlash against the proposals which officers at the Reform UK-led authority recommended for approval.
The authority's children and young people overview and scrutiny committee, led by a Liberal Democrat councillor, has asked for a review of the decision, with a meeting scheduled for Wednesday 6 May.
The Great Alne school started to be hit by falling pupil numbers in 2023, after getting an "inadequate" Ofsted rating in 2023.
Despite standards improving, with a rating of "requires improvement" being reached, the numbers continued to fall.
With a low birth rate, and space available at other local schools, the council says there is no realistic prospect of Great Alne being viable again in the future and insists all reasonable efforts have been made to turn things around.
Objectors have highlighted the need for the village to maintain the school because of anticipated growth in housing across Warwickshire in future years.
If the school closes, six pupils are set to be displaced, with two others put forward for reception places.
The scrutiny panel will run through the arguments and then decide – probably through a vote – on what course of action to take.
The strongest course of action available is limited to asking the cabinet to revisit the decision, potentially with a recommendation on what the scrutiny panel believes should happen.
The panel is also free to agree with the initial decision and allow it to stand without any further action or wave it through with additional recommendations.
There are no Warwickshire County Council elections, but elections will take place for Rugby Borough Council and Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council on Thursday 7 May.
These councils are known as lower tier authorities – dealing with community-focused issues like waste collection and planning decisions.
This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.
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