Church diocese threatens council with legal challenge over school closures decision

The Diocese of Portsmouth has sent a ‘letter before claim’ to Isle of Wight Council over the proposed closure of three Church of England (CofE) primary schools on the island.

The letter accuses the local authority of not carrying a fair and reasonable process in identifying Oakfield CofE Primary, Brading CofE Primary and Arreton St George’s CofE Primary for closure.

The three schools have been earmarked for closure in August 2025 alongside Cowes and Wroxall Primary Schools as a solution to falling pupil numbers.

At a meeting in January, the full council voted against the closures. The vote, however, was non-binding. A final decision will be taken by Cabinet on 6 March.

The Diocese called on Isle of Wight Council to re-start the whole consultation process – “or face possible litigation”.

Among the claims made in the letter are:

• There was a failure to consult with all interested parties – including the Diocese and the schools – before the six schools were originally identified for closure in September 2024.
• There was a lack of clarity about the criteria applied by the council to identify the schools for closure.
• The original proposals referred to academic standards as a reason for closure, contrary to Department for Education guidance.
• The proposals also suggested that the council could close a school because of under-performance and recommend an alternative school with a similar Ofsted ruling, “which appears illogical”.
• The council had suggested proposed alternative uses of the school sites after closure, even though the diocese owns the land and would need to agree its future use. “No such consultation has taken place, but the conflation of school closures and possible future use of the sites suggests the outcome was pre-determined.”
• Unlike previous school reorganisation processes on the Isle of Wight, there has not been a freeze on recruitment of school staff until final decisions are made. Jobs are being advertised at schools not threatened with closure, while staff at the three CofE schools have been given redundancy estimates – ahead of a final council decision. “This suggests the process has been pre-determined.”
• The council has not explained why there is a disproportionate reduction in the number of places in Church of England schools in their proposals.
• Council officers have revealed “their lack of understanding” by suggesting that a ‘Christian education’ is available at a nearby Roman Catholic school.
• All five schools identified for closure are in the top nine schools with the highest percentage of children with special needs (SEND) on the island.
• The proposals don’t take into account that Oakfield and Brading serve some of the most deprived communities on the island, or address the increased travel time and costs for disadvantaged families in finding alternative CofE education.
• DfE guidance has a presumption against closing rural schools, such as Brading and Arreton, unless the case for closure is strong.
• DfE guidance has a presumption against closing nursery schools, such as those located at Oakfield and Brading, unless the case for closure is strong. The proposals include no information about alternative early years provision.

Diocesan director of education Jeff Williams said: “The diocese has been involved in the closure of CofE schools in the past, and we don’t object to the closure of CofE schools on every occasion when it is deemed necessary. However, this process has been flawed from the start, as we have explained to councillors and officers multiple times.

“The reasons the council have given for school closures have been unclear, inconsistent and risk doing further damage to communities that have already been hit hard by these ill-informed plans. If the Cabinet agrees to these closures, it could set a precedent for future school closures on the Isle of Wight – that they can arbitrarily select schools for closure without fair and objective criteria being used.”

Williams added: “We believe the Cabinet should listen to its own councillors, its MP, its school communities and its voters and refrain from taking a decision on March 6. We would like them to pause and consider a restart of the entire process based on published, transparent, coherent and consistently applied criteria. The diocese is happy to work with the council and all schools across the island to address the significant challenge of surplus school places.

“We only want what is best for the children and families living on the island. We believe this can only be achieved by working together on new proposals that we can all feel confident about.”

Isle of Wight Council has 14 days to respond to the letter before claim.

An Isle of Wight Council spokesperson said: “We have received the correspondence from the Diocesan and will digest its contents. Throughout the School Place Planning process, we have actively worked with all stakeholders to ensure everyone is involved in the future of School Place Planning on the island. We are unable to provide further comment at this time.”