Feelings run high as council confirms closure of village school in Milton Keynes

There was a cry of “shame on you” as Cllr Zoe Nolan (Lab, Loughton & Shenley) the elected head of education at Milton Keynes Council, confirmed the closure decision at a meeting on Tuesday.

During the delegated decisions meeting, Conservative Cllr Peter Geary (Olney) accused Cllr Nolan of showing “disrespect” to objectors as she checked her phone during a presentation. Cllr Nolan denied this, saying she has been “looking at data” to do with her decision.

Cllr Nolan said she preferred “not to make a decision to close the school” but nevertheless said that the case was strong for doing so. There aren’t enough children to fill all the village primary schools in the borough, which she said are under pressure.

Cllr Nolan faced determined opposition from resident Christopher Handler, Cllr Vicky McLean, who chairs Emberton Parish Council, her husband Cllr Keith McLean (Cons, Olney) and Cllr Geary.

Mr Handler presented the results of a survey he and others carried out which he said proved there is enough demand in the village from parents who want a good school in the village.

But Cllr Nolan, who did not dispute the figures, said whatever the numbers were in the survey, parents had decided since 2013 not to send their children to the school.

The school has enough room for 36 children, 12 in each of three year groups but has failed to get near that figure.

Mr Handler said he had submitted 61 questions to ask at the meeting but the rules only allowed him to ask one. This, he said, was lamentable avoidance of scrutiny.

But Simon Sims, the council’s head of education sufficiency and access, said, to a shout of “wrong” that all Mr Handler’s questions had been answered during the closure process.

He said that the council had good track record of forecasting pupil numbers and stood by figures that showed only one pupil would choose the school in both of the next two years. This was disputed.

“Fewer than half of the people living in the area have chosen Emberton School for many years. There has been a significant surplus of places since 2014,” he said.

The objectors had wanted the school to be made good and opened but the council thinks this would be unsustainable.

Cllr Nolan said: “I am going to go ahead with my decision to close the school”, to which Mr Handler replied “shame on you.”

After the meeting Cllr Keith McLean confirmed that opponents will be looking into launching a judicial review of the decision.

And the Village School Federation in a statement said: “We do not take pleasure in the situation we find ourselves in but as governors we have the responsibility to ensure clarity of vision and strategic direction as well as oversight of the financial performance of our schools.”