- Title or Description
- Scottish Borders Council Mothballing Policy
- FOI Number
- 20250762
- Date Received
- 13/06/2025
- Type of Request
- FOI
- Request or Question
-
: I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Scottish Borders Council adopted a Mothballing Policy in June 2022, as referenced here: Overview of decision: LINK1 2022 Policy document: LINK2
In relation to the more recent draft policy referenced in the Executive Committee meeting on 15 April 2025: Meeting documents: LINK3 Draft Mothballing Policy (version 5): LINK4
Please provide the following information:
Copies of all earlier draft versions of the new Mothballing Policy preceding version 5 (i.e. drafts 1?4). The creation date of each of these drafts. The name and job title of the individual(s) who authored or were primarily responsible for drafting the updated Mothballing Policy. - Response
- The draft Mothball Policy brought to Executive committee on 15th April 2025 was in relation to a draft possible Policy for Mothballing ELC settings. This is different to the Mothballing Policy for Mothballing of School Settings which was adopted in June 2022. Mothballing is a term from the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 - Statutory Guidance. Mothballing is a temporary closure of a school (or a stage of education or a nursery class at a school) which does not require a statutory consultation under the 2010 Act. Scottish Borders Council Policy and Criteria on Mothballing a School ( distinct from ELC) was approved by Education Sub Committee in June 2022. This sets out the factors, assessment, decision-making and procedural arrangements for mothballing a school, in line with the statutory guidance under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. In 2025, It was felt that with an increasing number of ELC settings experiencing falling rolls, it was important that the process undertaken to mothball an ELC setting was also aligned within the SBC Policy on Mothballing a school, to provide clarity, transparency and certainty on the process to be followed and the criteria that should be applied in reaching a decision to mothball a ELC setting. This was the reasoning behind a draft Mothballing policy for ELC settings being brought to Education Executive Committee on 15th April 2015. In relation to your questions:- ?Copies of all earlier draft versions of the new Mothballing Policy preceding version 5 (i.e. drafts 1?4). The creation date of each of these drafts. The name and job title of the individual(s) who authored or were primarily responsible for drafting the updated Mothballing Policy? By asking for ?Copies of all earlier draft versions of the new Mothballing Policy preceding version 5 (i.e. drafts 1?4)? we assume you mean earlier drafts of the draft ELC Mothballing policy. This draft policy has no earlier versions saved in SBC databases. Only the final draft version was saved, and it was this which was taken to the Executive Committee on 15th April 2025. It was drafted and worked on by a solicitor in Feb/March and April 2025 and authorised by the Chief Legal Officer on 8th April 2025 to be taken by The Director of Education to Executive Committee on 15th April. The draft policy remains in draft form and has not yet been adopted by the Council.
- Related links
- Overview of decision
- Policy document
- Meeting documents
- Draft Mothballing Policy (version 5)
