Trade Unions Assured Of Involvement In Isle Of Wight Primary School Places Review

Trade unions have been promised a role in discussions over the future of Isle of Wight primary schools, amid concerns about potential closures and job losses.

Councillors have agreed that a review of primary school places should consider demand, educational quality, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and the impact on local communities.

The decision followed discussions at County Hall on Thursday (October 15), where UNISON representative Mark Chiverton sought assurances that unions would be involved in the process.

He raised concerns about the council's 2024/25 school place planning exercise, which included proposals that could have seen up to six Island primary schools close.

Mr Chiverton said the previous process had placed a significant number of teaching and support staff jobs at risk, while causing considerable stress for council employees managing the consultation.

He reiterated the unions' longstanding position that, should closures be considered, proposals should ideally be limited to one school at a time to maximise redeployment opportunities and minimise redundancies.

Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Garratt, vice-chair of the education panel, assured him that councillors wanted constructive engagement with union representatives.

"It is very important that your interests and the interests you safeguard for your members are properly addressed by us as the decision makers," he said.

The council also faced questions from National Education Union (NEU) representative Duncan Morrison about measures to reduce potential job losses ahead of any closure proposals.

In a response read out by Cllr Garratt, council officers said the authority would work proactively with schools, employees and unions to explore alternatives to redundancy and maximise redeployment opportunities.

However, they acknowledged that redundancies could not always be avoided following changes to school organisation.

The council said it remained committed to minimising job losses and would strongly encourage schools to offer redeployment opportunities to staff at risk.