Decision on closing Isle of Wight primary schools deferred
Councillors want more time to look at a 1,700-page report
Ruling Alliance cabinet members have voted to defer a crunch decision on closing five Isle of Wight primary schools.
It follows calls from members of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee (CSC) on Tuesday, who asked for more time to read a report.
Cabinet members were originally due to make final decisions on the closures of Arreton St Georges CE Primary School, Brading CE Primary School, Cowes Primary School, Oakfield CE Primary and Wroxall Primary School on Thursday (March 6th).
Pushing for the deferral just before this evening’s vote, education cabinet member Cllr Jonathan Bacon said:
“It would be in the best interests of both proper scrutiny and transparency. I would like to say that we regret any anxiety that that delay is likely to cause to school communities concerned.
“We would appreciate patience and understanding as we navigate through what is becoming a complex, but is nonetheless a very important process.
“Underpinning everything is our commitment to improve education on the Island – that remains steadfast and we will continue to keep all stakeholders informed as we move forward.”
CSC unanimously passed a motion stating it had been ‘treated shamefully’ and that ‘any effective and meaningful scrutiny’ of the closures decision is ‘open to ridicule’.
Councillor Geoff Brodie’s submission said CSC had received a ‘circa 1,700 page cabinet report’ setting out the case for the closures ‘just three full working days’ before its Tuesday meeting.
It noted: “Papers for committees are legally supposed to be published at least five full working days beforehand, with the accompanying publication of background papers being considered to be good practice for effective and meaningful scrutiny.”
The incident is ‘another example’ of how Isle of Wight Council ‘cabinet governance’ is ‘discredited’, the motion added.
CSC ultimately recommended a two-week postponement of the closures decision to ‘allow effective and meaningful scrutiny to be undertaken’.
The crunch decision is now set to be made at a meeting on March 20th.