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  6. Proposal to Close Riverside Primary School and Letham Primary School and Replace them with a New School on the Riverside Site

Proposal to Close Riverside Primary School and Letham Primary School and Replace them with a New School on the Riverside Site

The consultation has now closed. West Lothian Council Education Executive agreed the proposal on 26 June 2024.

Proposal

West Lothian Council's Education Executive at its meeting on 16 January 2024 authorised West Lothian Council's Education Services to commence statutory consultation on the proposals to (i) establish a new non‐denominational primary school at the Riverside Site, Craigshill, (ii) review the catchment area for the new Craigshill school to include both Riverside Primary School and Letham Primary School catchments, (iii) close Riverside Primary School and Letham Primary School.

Statutory Consultation

In terms of the Schools (Consultation)(Scotland) Act 2010 (the Act), any proposed changes to a school estate in this case creation of a new education establishment, review of admission arrangements arising from school catchment area variations and closure of a school requires Statutory Public Consultation.

The Consultation involves all key stakeholders and statutory consultees as detailed in Schedule 2 of the Act, this includes parents/carers/children and staff of Letham Primary School and Riverside Primary School.

Consultation Paper

The consultation document outlining the proposal is available here:  Proposal to Close Riverside PS and Letham PS and Replace with a New School [2MB]

Consultation Period

The public consultation period relating to the proposal has now closed. A public meeting to discuss the consultation document was held on Monday 4 March 2024 at Letham Primary School (6-7pm) and at Riverside Primary School (7.15-8.15pm).

Report on the Consultation

The following reports detail the findings of the public consultation period including the report from Education Scotland -

Decision

West Lothian Council Education Executive agreed the proposal on 26 June 2024.  For more information see the Education Executive report on WLC Coins: Coins Report - Craigshill Primary School (opens new window)

Representations to Scottish Ministers

When an authority takes a decision to approve a school closure proposal, section 15(2) and (2A) requires it to notify Scottish Ministers, within 6 days of making the decision, and place a notice on its website of this fact and of the opportunity to make representations to the Scottish Ministers. The deadline for making representations was Tuesday 16 July 2024.

Scottish Ministers confirmed on 19 August 2024 that they will not be calling in the School Closure decision and the decision of West Lothian Council's Education Executive is therefore finalised. A ministerial letter can be found on the Scottish Government website here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/riverside-and--letham-primary (opens new window)