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Decision details

*Republished - no longer subject to call in* St Hilda’s Roman Catholic Primary School, Whitby

Decision Maker: Executive Member for Education, Learning & Skills

Decision status: Recommendations Approved

Is Key decision?: Yes

Is subject to call in?: No

Decision:

To approve public consultation on a proposal that the County Council should close St Hilda’s Roman Catholic Primary School, Whitby from 9 April 2021.

Reasons for the decision:

*PLEASE NOTE This decision was originally published on or near the date of the decision and so call in no longer applies. It has been re-published as part of the change in committee management system that we use.*

At a governing body meeting at St Hilda’s Roman Catholic Primary School on 7th January it was resolved, with regret and reluctance, to enter into consultation to seek to close (discontinue) St Hilda’s RC Primary School.

Commencement of the consultation was approved by the Executive Member for Education & Skills in February and on 3 March 2020 a public consultation meeting was held in Whitby to discuss the closure. During the consultation period a group of stakeholders made the case that they would like more time and some further engagement with the Local Authority (LA) to explore further any options for keeping the school open. However, due to the Covid 19 Pandemic which closed the School, and the restrictions placed upon gatherings, it was not considered feasible to hold these kind of discussions within an appropriate timescale given the proposed closure date of 31 August. Having first extended the consultation period, a decision was then taken by the LA in early April to not proceed with the proposal at that time and therefore allowing the opportunity for stakeholders to look at alternatives to closure.

As part of the work to satisfy themselves that all options had been considered, three local stakeholders, comprising two parents and County Councillor Joe Plant, joined the Schools Governing Body. Alongside this the Roman Catholic Diocese appointed further Foundation Governors to ensure a full range of expertise were available to look at the options. The changes constituted a complete restructure of the Governing Body as only two members remained from the previous board a new Chair and Vice-Chair were appointed. The LA funded a piece of detailed financial analysis on options for the school going forward and provided additional professional support.

Following a short but intense period of review the LA received a letter from the Governing Body of St Hilda’s Roman Catholic Primary School in early September 2020 in which they stated: ‘With enormous sadness and deep regret, and after many months of sustained efforts to identify a solution to the funding crisis faced by the school, the governors of St Hilda’s RC Primary School feel they must once again ask North Yorkshire County Council to commence formal consultation on the proposed closure of our St Hilda’s.’

Under the arrangements agreed by The Executive on 25 September 2007, decisions to approve public consultation on school organisation proposals for which the decision maker is the Local Authority, will normally be taken by the Executive Members for Schools.

Publication date: 16/04/2021

Date of decision: 20/10/2020