Argyll and Bute Council is in session (19th April 2011) in the latest stage of its second attempt to close the rural schools that are vital to community sustainability and to Argyll.
It will be a long day and we’ll feed news here as we get it. We’ll have the narrative and photographs – of what has been a wonderfully communal carnival of protest (with some gloriously inventive surprises).
13.00 update: Cleland on the rails. We understand that much of the morning was taken up with two exercises, the first was a long ‘grilling’ of Executive Director for Education, the hapless Cleland Sneddon, on the Scottish Rural Schools Network’s substantiated allegations against him of misrepresenting information to elected members in order to sway their opinion.
Tbe second was what has been described as a ‘shredding’ of the closure proposal against North Bute School.
We do not yet know what the outcome of either if these exercises has been but we gather than the council took a short break just before 13.00 and is then to start the long process of a roll call vote on each of the 12 schools on the list.
We have also been told – with no time for supporting detail – that there seems to be a particular vendetta against North Bute School and against Luss school. For a local authority elected to represent Argyll and Bute to behave in a way that is seen by normal folk as a ‘vendetta’ against two very healthy schools, is the strangest of all phenomena in the log roll of this unable council.
For Argyll is banned, of course for the impertinence of its sustained criticism of the council’s mindless persistence in trying to close perfectly healthy rural schools on cases characterised by their failure to comply with the governing legislation.
The advantage of this is that we’re free to spend time in an honest place outside, with straightforward human and community values – and a great sense of carnival. Today’s cry was ‘dump the fools. Save the schools’.
No fewer that two Police Sergeants and three Police constables stood by ready to ‘kettle’ the good humoured crowd at the behest of the fearful council inside.
In advance of the story of the day, we will say one thing – attempting to close Clachan School this time – after intending it to receive pupils from other closing schools only back in January 2011, has been yet another tactical mistake by this hamfisted and amateur council.
Clachan, fresh to the barricades and full of invention, was the engine of the day. Details this evening – but prepare to admire.
Minard were there in force,- highly creative old hands at the game by now – on the list for the second time, along with Ashfield, Luss, North Bute, Skipness, Rhunahaorine, Achaleven, Ardchattan and the new kids surrounding the block at Kilmory with the sound of chants, pipe and drums, vuvuzelas, horns and song.
15.28 So far the session has used an immense amount of time on a rebuttal of SRSN’s case. Opinion from the schools delegations is that thus far we have unexpurgated amounts of mince. Michael Russell has been in attendance watching in what has been termed by one correspondents as “barely disguised disbelief”. The motion to accept Sneddon’s rebuttal of SRSN’s case was carried.
15.30 The chamber only started considering the closure proposals themselves around fifteen minutes ago.
15.39 We have just heard that there’s been a proposal for a continuance on the closures because there hasn’t been enough time for all the proposals to be considered. Councillor Morton is presently “ranting” that this is rubbish and that the councillors have had plenty of time.
15.42 They have discarded continuance motion and are now looking at Ashfield School — actually they’re ‘reading’ through the report.
15.56 We’ve just heard that they’re still on the Ashfield paper. This looks as if it is going to be a very, very long session indeed.
16.15 Still talking about Ashfield, particularly what happens to staff (perm. contracts will be redeployed and temp. contracts not renewed). There’s nothing new here. The suspicion is growing that the process today is a done deal (and deals have been done).
16.23 Ashfield has been saved! Trying to get more details on voting.
16.36 We now understand that Cllr Morton put forward a motion not to proceed with a formal consultation. This was passed unanimously. Ashfield parents think that the journey time was critical in this, as well as the fact that specific detail on the proposals was interestingly absent from Sneddon’s replies to questions from the floor. The question now is, Is Ashfield the sweetener, or are they going to run through the rest of the proposals with the same outcome as a face-saving operation? Interesting times at, as one of the parents put it, “Castle Mince”.
16.40 Michael Russell comments: “I have been enormously impressed by the parents and pupils here today to defend the schools and utterly horrified at the very poor quality of information coming from the council officials. Some of the educational content is actually plain wrong!
“The conduct of the meeting is also woefully poor despite the best efforts of the provost. Officials speak at inordinate length and try and wear down the councillors with irrelevant detail as the incredible 800 plus pages of papers for the meeting show. This is no way to make vital decisions.
Newsroom
If you are logging back in to this post before the end of the day then please give my very best to all those around you. That North Bute and Luss appear to be bearing the brunt of the attack is consistent with the behaviour of certain relevant councillors over the past weeks.
It must be something to with the word ‘provost’ or should that read ‘reward’ provost.
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Cannot do anything from here but to send message of support to all who are inside and outside – well done for a fantastic fight so far, and wishing all success for the schools.
Let us hope that reason prevails at the end of the day.
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Thanks again forargyll for providing a live feed, very appreciated. Linking you on http://www.facebook.com/HaveYourSayOnBute Anyone wishing to comment on the page is more than welcome!
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Loving the live entertainment!!!!….THANKYOU.
No wonder they hate you.
Can’t wait for the next round of Council elections!
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@Jam Why thank you! We have to admit that today is a bit Heath Robinson as we’re depending on texts from the chamber to your correspondent’s mobile as he sits in the office miles away from this crucible of … mince.
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Ashfield! That’s great news. I’m really sorry I had to leave early as I would have enjoyed the group hugs! My heart rises – who is next up?
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Well done Ashfield and a special well done to ashfield mum. First of 10 if there is any sense out there
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Fantastic news for Ashfield – fingers crossed for the others. Huge thanks to FA for keeping us as informed as possible!
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I have to confess to being really puzzled as to Cllr Morton’s rationale of putting Ashfield on the pre-con list, putting it up for consultation then moving a motion to prevent that happening. No doubt some reasoning will emerge later.
Ashfield: it was the piper and drummer wot won it!
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Sorry to hear about Toward (has this been confirmed?). I suspect some councillors have long memories and have never forgiven Toward for the kicking they received in 2000. Or maybe they just want to see if Mr Stirling really will take them to court? (It’s not their money after all that will be needed to defend the case in court).
I presume these comments are from Mr Russell during a break? I have this vision of him standing up and thundering his disapproval to all and sundry in the Council meeting with the Provost frantically banging his gavel in a vain effort to have him desist but I suspect the real situation is more prosaic.
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Congratulations to Ashfield, I hope you were not the sweetener for the rest of us. Big sorry to Toward….I don’t think you will be on your own.
My only hope today is that all schools saved in this fiasco help to campaign and support all schools not so fortunate :0(
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Meanwhile have you all seen today’s Herald? Front page article complaining about SG interference in closure procedures (promoted by COSLA of course) and a Leader entitled “No easy answer to School closures”, using the same old mince about financial savings and ignoring the requirement for Councils to prove actual educational benefits. Looks like their education correspondent learned to read Acts of Parliament at the same school as Sneddon!
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Luss mummy, don’t worry there will be plenty of us out there campaigning and supporting.
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Early hopes being dashed by the subsequent news on Toward and Skipness. Looks like we still have work to do.
Mike Russell is seeing for himself what we have been up against for over 6 months now. A farcical Administration utterly devoid of competence or common sense.
No surprise about COSLA hotbird – they fought tooth and nail to prevent the Act being strengthened. Self serving and resemble a patting on the back old schools club.
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I hope that the councillors are very proud of themselves!!!! I know my kids are proud of my efforts and that of the other parents involved in the threatened schools…..I wonder how proud the councillors kids are of their parents at closing schools.
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Luss Mummy,
If Luss is not saved (unfortunately you need to rely on Petrie and Kelly) then I guarantee you support. The same goes for Toward, Skipness, Toward and any other school still to be announced that goes to closure.
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Sitting in Oban watching this bizarre pantomime. Best wishes to all those who have to stand and wait and keep taking note of what is happening!
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I’m happy for Ashfield………..
Any more news on North Bute yet?
Good luck to all others left “standing”!
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Please some more news please…..after leaving early with 3 wee ones I am desperate to know what is happening!!!
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Well done to Ashfield. Need more news as I had to leave early to pick up children from after school club.
If we hadn’t had the two hour farce of Sneddon and various councillors attacking SRSN and Sandy Longmuir (with no right to reply) we’d all know where we stand by now.
A disgraceful spectacle all round.
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I just heard that Ellen Morton has compared the schools consultation with teaching at Dunblane. It will be interesting to hear the context this remark was made in.
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Anyone know what happened with Rhunahaorine.
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Afraid it has also gone to consultation bws
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Does anyone else think this is being dragged on…..or have they sent out for a chip supper????
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Well done for this coverage
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Minard to Furnace goes to consultation.
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A disgrace for Clachan to be facing consultation . Hasn’t Skipness only one pupil ?
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Is this still actually going on, is everyone alright outside – if they are still there, must be absolutely exhausted not to say utterly shattered with yet more incredible antics from A&BCs finest! Thank you again FA for the coverage it is really unbelievable, if you didn’t hear it first hand (almost) well you couldn’t make it up – any bets on the overtime pay and sustinence costs?
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I think Skipness is currently at three pupils,
It is strange how Clachan went from being a receiving school in the initial closure plans to being itself a target for closure. Kintyre1 – we actually agree on something!
My earlier optimism has now been dashed (though I’m still pleased about Ashfield). What is the state of play for Achaleven, Ardchattan and Luss?
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Sorry Luss, you also go to consultation
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Skipness 3, plus one “temp” Are they on Luss yet? We had to leave, we were starting to decompose- just like meals coming from Arrochar and part of the EBS.
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Cheers bws, no surprise there then
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CSB: sorry I missed you today. I guess you will not be surprised at the outcome. How the councillors can be so blind to the strength of your case eludes me. Back to the closure coal face tomorrow!
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Thanks for letting us know. i guess we have one thing to thanks Sneddon for….he has brought together so many communities who would never have otherwise met.
Good luck to us all!
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Sorry I missed you too Dougie, was keeping my eyes open… or at least until Mr Sneddon cast me into a coma.
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Achaleven to Dunbeg goes to consultation
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Oh hummm Toward on the hit list there’s a surprise, i guess they think we are an easy target
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Ardchattan to Lochnell goes to consultation.
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Will any be called in by the Scottish parliament.
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Phill, I think its more a case of, will any NOT be called in by the Scottish parliament?
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Well done to everyone that turned up in support for our schools and for the great carnival atmosphere. Congratulations to Ashfield !!! After 12 hours there I was left speechless but not surprised by the other outcomes. Some councillors should hand the heads in shame !!!! We were loud, proud and we will keep on fighting !!!!
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Oops *hang their heads in shame* sorry been a long day… lol
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Phill
That depends whether the law is properly applied. A&B are already in breach of the Act in all the proposals taken into consultation. If it wasn’t for the fact that, once again, commuities were being put on a knife edge for a further period of months then this further chapter in ‘How not to run a local authority’ would be genuinely comical.
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Clachan would appear to have an open and shut case.Seems an odd one!
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according to the council website the decisions were made before the meeting even seems to have started ! but full update is :
Updates from council meeting to discuss school merger proposals
Published Date: 19/04/2011 – 13:45
These proposals will not go to statutory consultation:
Ashfield Primary School to Lochgilphead Joint Campus
Ashfield Primary School to Tayvallich Primary School
Minard Primary School to Lochgilphead Joint Campus
Achaleven Primary School to Lochnell Primary School
These proposals will go to statutory consultation:
St Kieran’s Primary School to Castlehill Primary School
Ardchonnel Primary School to Dalmally / Kilmartin Primary Schools
Toward Primary School to Inellan Primary School
Skipness Primary School to Tarbert Academy
Clachan Primary School to Tarbert Academy
North Bute Primary School to Rothesay Joint Campus
Rhunahaorine Primary School to Glenbarr Primary School
Minard Primary School to Furnace Primary School
Luss Primary School to Hermitage Primary School
Achaleven Primary School to Dunbeg Primary School
Ardchatten Primary School to Lochnell Primary School
There are no more proposals to discuss.
The meeting closed at 21:44
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For linnhe: Indeed. That is the way this majority administration manages affairs; and it is the clearest proof that this is not a listening culture.
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Well, Mike Russell was present to see the performance this afternoon. If the SNP are returned to power & he’s given his previous job he’ll have his big chance to put his money where his mouth is & reach the right decision when the cases are called in. Or was it all just blather & bluster with one eye on the ballot box?
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For Keith Stanger: As you say, if this particular chain of events comes about, Argyll will rightly expect action – not favours but just treatment..
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Keith
If he is elected he will have to opt out of the decision regarding A&B schools however it won’t do any harm for him to have see first hand what a shambles this Council have become.
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Council’s press release states (in relation to North Bute)
‘Following a meeting arranged with Cllr Scoullar and the council’s facility services, the Parent Council have very recently submitted some details on an alternative specification of works. This submission will be discussed at a meeting this month and its viability will thereafter be formally assessed by facility services as with all alternatives that are suggested through community consultation.’
For A&B legislation compliance is just something that other people have to do.
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Still delighted that Ashfield has been at last removed from this desperately incompetent process, but it now seems like a particularly cruel and cynical trick for Cllr Morton to have put it up for consideration first, when she must have known full well that it was the ONLY school she intended to reprieve in this way. Ashfield undoubtedly had a very strong case against being closed, but not particularly more so than most of the others. Will the council attempt to explain the rationale for its actions today?
What little remained of the credibility of this council in my view has just about completely gone now, and this has ended up a deeply depressing day for Argyll. All the clear evidence for the vital role of schools in our rural communities obtained during the pre-consultation process has been totally ignored, and all the time and effort put in by the many unpaid parent and community volunteers to research and articulate the case for bringing this misery to an end, quickly, has been largely wasted.
The line which will now, no doubt, be trotted out in a bizarre groundhog-day scene that this is ‘only a consultation, no decisions have been taken yet’ will be a profound insult to communities who now feel they have been consulted to death and yet no-one in The Administration is listening.
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I woke this morning to an attack from “lego” on the perceived cost of education at Ashfield and I left Kilmory after Achaleven’s verdict had been declared – but I am no clearer on “Kilmory’s” understanding of “facts”
Facts have been described as “matters of opinion” or to be found through “quick websearch’s”.
Schools still up for closure are overflowing with facts and the reality of what happened today.
Many sensible voices were heard at Kilmory including Councillors Philand, Freeman, Robb, Simon, Semple, Horn and many more – but unfortunately they were not listened to.
This is the fundamental problem.
I am grateful for our reprieve but the view of Education in Argyll and Bute from within Kilmory must change for the better and the future of our children and communities must be held in higher regard than they are at present – fact!
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Well I saved responding to this properly until this morning as I was too flippin numb last night – not from shock, let me make that clear.
We seem to have got the tactics right – voting on schools individually – only if you know which way your colleagues are going to vote ie. the way you told them to. We recorded the vote for each school as it happened and surprise, surprise, no variation in the ConDemAlls.
We had been told by Billy Petrie last week that Luss was going through to Consultation, perhaps it was his clairvoyant skills that enabled them to update the council website with the decisions, before the votes had even been taken on most of the schools.
One thing that has become blatantly obvious through this shambolic process – democracy in Argyll and Bute is dead.
Pre-Consultation was a joke, played on the public and NOTHING
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Sorry, hit return. I shall continue rant…
NOTHING that was submitted by the communities in question mattered even a tiny bit.
The Councillors are on a single track road to school closures with nowhere to turn and the results were made on this a long time ago.
However, lets look on the bright side…
We now have the protection of the Schools (Consultation) Act behind us and the arrogance of Argyll & Bute Council has remained nice and strong and they have still not complied with the Act.
Chances of call-in? Absolutely certain
Toward can now go ahead with their legal challenge.
Chances of success? Excellent
We now get all the financial information, kindly being posted on the Council’s website by a generous Mr Sneddon (probably trying to cut down on the FOIs). We get to rip them apart. And we can get the receiving schools involved now as it was admitted in the chamber yesterday – receiving schools are getting their staff cut too. More kids – less teachers.
Chances of Educational Benefit for either of the schools amalgamating? None
Hermitage Primary, we believe you are losing 0.84FTE. When do you want to meet up?
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I tried to reply last night but my brain wouldnt function sufficiently to put words together.
I was surprised they actually had the gall to go ahead with this, but I suppose on reflection they had no choice but to try and save face.
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Hi Everyone. I have waited for the dust to settle before commenting on yesterday’s marathon 11.5 hour Council meeting. Firstly, congratulations to all the parents, children and others who attended throughout the day to ensure that councillors continued to be aware of the strong feelings in their communities against the school closure proposals. You must have all been shattered by the time you got home. I know that I was and I only had to sit on my backside all day.
As to the decisions that were taken, many of us continued to argue against the proposed school closures and voted against them. Unfortunately all the ConDemAll administration members stuck together and toed the ConDemAll line and voted to take 11 of the 12 schools on the list forward to the formal consultation stage. The only surprise was that they agreed to remove Ashfield from the list. They had obviously decided in advance what the decision on each school was going to be as we were told long before the meeting started, that Ashfield would be saved and as we know, that is what happened. I am glad that Ashfield is off the list but the question must be asked, why Ashfield came off the list and why the others remained on the list? Where is the justification for such a decision?
Although opposition councillors considered all the information relating to all the schools on the list, as you would expect, councillors spent more time on the case for retaining their own local schools. That is the reason why I submitted an amendment to remove Luss Primary School from the process. I highlighted a number of reasons why Luss should be removed from the list, but I believe that the strongest argument was that the Educational Befits Statement failed to comply with the current legislation and spelled out a number of reasons for my view on this issue. Unfortunately my arguments were ignored and the ConDemAll Members voted to a man and a woman to take Luss forward to formal consultation. Although this is disappointing, I was not surprised as I am of the view that many of the ConDemAll councillors are determined to close as many schools as possible.
We now move forward to the formal consultation stage without knowing what the criteria is that was used to decide which schools would be on the holistic second list. I will certainly continue to support any school if I believe that no legal and justifiable case for closure has been made. There must be no weakening of the resolve of the communities concerned to give 100% to the fight to save their schools.
As has been reported on ForArgyll, a number of MSP candidates attended yesterday’s meeting including Mike Russell (SNP) and Jackie Baillie Labour). I spoke with them both on this issue and I believe that no matter which party (Labour or SNP) is in power in the Scottish Government after the elections on 5th May, that if a decision is eventually taken by the Council to close these schools, I have no doubt that they will be called in by the Scottish Government.
Keep up the good work everyone.
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