Commentary on Sections Part 15 - School Closure Proposals, etc Section 77 – Restriction on closure proposals
206.Section 77 inserts a new section 2A (restriction on closure proposals) after section 2 of the 2010 Act. Section 2A(3) provides that, following a decision not to implement a closure proposal, an education authority would not be able to publish a proposal paper under section 4(4) of the 2010 Act for the same school within 5 years (beginning with the day on which the decision not to implement a closure proposal is made) unless there had been a significant change in the school’s circumstances.
207.Subsection (2) of section 2A makes it clear what is meant by “a decision not to implement a closure proposal”, which is a decision taken by an education authority not to implement the proposal after it has published a consultation report on the proposal, or a decision by a School Closure Review Panel to refuse consent to the proposal.