Thank you for your letter, a number of people have contacted me from Midlothian about the proposals for closure and I hope to attend a meeting about this in Cranstoun Hall on 11/3/04 at 7pm to discuss the issues with the local community and to provide what support I can to help their case.

I have serious concerns about the situation which is being replicated across Scotland. The issue of rural school closures had previously been about arguments about falling school roles which in themselves raised concerns about sustaining rural communities. The worrying aspect of the Midlothian situation, which appears to be similar to that in the Borders and Aberdeenshire, is that the driver for proposals for closure now have the added element of the need to realise assists from the school estate to fund the expensive PPP projects. Unfortunately the Executive are ruling out using the Schools Fund which is substantial investment together with the more traditional prudential borrowing route which would avoid some of the excessive costs of PPP projects which by their nature of needing to provide profits for private companies are a more expensive route. For information the SNP position is that there should be a presumption against closure of rural schools precisely because we need to protect local rural communities. The quality of educational provision for children should be the primary factor in decisions such as this.

There seems to be one message from the Executive about the need to support rural communities which is then not supported by policy. It is essential that the arguments for the Midlothian schools as with elsewhere in the country make this point.

There are existing legislative requirements about consultation, appeals and referrals to the Executive which the Council must follow. I am also looking out the reports, recommendations etc of the Parliament's Education Committee which had previously received assurances from the Executive that a Code of Practice be issued which would cover the principals which must be adhered to in these situations. I plan to ensure the campaign group which has been set up is armed with as much information as possible to help with their case.

Thank you again for contacting me

Yours sincerely

Fiona Hyslop
MSP for Lothians

SHADOW MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND LIFELONG LEARNING
SNP MSP FOR LOTHIANS
Scottish Parliament, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH99 1SP
Tel: 0131 348 5920 Fax: 0131 348 5735
E-mail: fiona.hyslop.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
www.fionahyslop.com