Court action casts doubt on class size policy
20 Aug 08
Council backs down over placing request despite guideline breach
A court action by a West Lothian parent has thrown doubt over the Scottish Government's attempts to cut primary school class sizes.
West Lothian Council had refused a placing request by the mother of a primary school child because her class group was already full, but backed down on the eve of the mother's appeal hearing at Linlithgow Sheriff Court.
The legal maximum for primary school class sizes, set in 1999, is 30 pupils, but the former Scottish Executive set a target of 25 maximum for primary 1 by a letter of guidance, while the current Scottish Government's concordat with local authorities includes a limit of 18 in primary 1-3.
Neither target has the force of law, and the mother's solicitor, Iain Nisbet of Govan Law Centre's education unit, claimed that the council had not contested the appeal because it realised it could not win. He addded that parents should be aware that their right to make a placing request could not be defeated by non-binding guidance or concordats.
West Lothian Council claimed that it was likely that a place would have become available for the child in any event.
In a separate case, the law centre also won a ruling in Greenock Sheriff Court that the intake of Greenock Academy and Gourock High School could not be capped simply to ensure that a planned new school combining the two would not be oversubscribed in future.