Schools pledge welcomed

Friday 12th June 2009, 9:30AM BST.

A Shirehall opposition group has welcomed the pledge of the new leader of Shropshire Council to safeguard small rural schools.

Keith Barrow who heads the council’s Conservative administration, wants the authority to return to the old policy of the former county council.

Under this policy, 22 schools would escape the threat of closure to tackle falling pupil numbers and loss of Government funding.

Peter Phillips, Lib Dems leader, said: “At long last the Conservatives have finally accepted what the Lib Dems and the people of Shropshire have been telling them for years.

“Our small schools are at the heart of our communities and should be supported not threatened.

“I’m glad that Councillor Barrow has made this commitment and it’ll be our job to make sure that he sticks to it.”

Deputy Lib Dem leader Nigel Hartin added: “What parents, pupils and teachers want now is some confirmation that schools will only be closed on educational and not financial grounds in future and what the criteria would be in such circumstances.”

Councillor Hartin said the administration also needed to say how it planned to deal with the budgetary challenges faced by larger schools in the county.