§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many primary schools in rural areas there have been in the last five years (a) where closures have been approved following section 12 notices and (b) where closures have been rejected; and how many outstanding cases there are.
§ Mr. DunnFrom January 1979 to May 1983, approval was given for the closure of 255 rural primary schools. Since January 1981 proposals for the closure of 20 such schools have been rejected. In addition, since the latter10W date local education authorities have determined proposals for the closure of 36 rural primary schools in accordance with section 12(7) of the Education Act 1980, that is proposals for which there were no objections. As at 31 May 1983, there were 118 outstanding proposals to cease to maintain one or more primary schools (urban and rural); our records do not allow us at this stage to identify the number of rural schools involved.