SCOTTISH Ministers have called in plans to close a school in Dundee.
Dundee City Council had announced in June that it intended to close St Pius X Roman Catholic Primary School and Nursery, following a consultation.
Under the plans, the catchment area of another primary school – St Francis RC Primary School – would have been expanded to include pupils at St Pius X, with those pupils also being given free transport to their new school.
The school could have been closed at the end of the 2025/26 academic year, impacting around 300 pupils.
The council's chief education officer, Paul Fleming, wrote to the Scottish Government informing them of the decision on June 24.
Ministers responded on Wednesday by issuing a call-in notice to the council.
Ministers said the education authority had not met the requirement in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 "to comply with the requirements imposed on it by (or under) the Act so far as they are relevant in relation to the closure proposal".
They argued that the proposal paper which was submitted did not include "sufficient detail" about the educational benefits of closing the school's nursery class, and failed to provide consultees with "adequate information about the availability and accessibility of alternative early learning and childcare provision".
While that information was provided to Scottish Government officials at a later date upon request, Ministers argued consultees had been limited in their ability to assess the impact of the closure and to "respond meaningfully".
As a result, Ministers said they believe that Dundee City Council may have "failed to comply" with the 2010 act.
They cited the council's "lack of clarity around the educational impact of the nursery closure, the rationale for expected benefits, and the mitigation of adverse effects combined with the absence of information about alternative early learning and childcare provision".
Ministers said the council's proposal warrants further scrutiny and referred it to the convener of the School Closure Review Panel, an independent statuary body which reviews local council decisions about closing schools.
Dundee City Council was warned it is not allowed to implement its plans to close the school unless the panel grants it consent or if an appeal is found to be successful.
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: "The city council has been informed about the decision by the Scottish Government. Council officers will work with the School Closure Review Panel going forward."
