Sustainable schools policy must be reviewed, PAC urges

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has criticised the sustainable schools policy in Northern Ireland as ineffective, claiming it operated on the basis of ‘flawed and inaccurate data’ and has called for it to be put under review.

The sustainable schools policy is used to plan educational provision across Northern Ireland. The PAC has advised that schools should provide more up-to-date enrolment figures, to help authorities decide more accurately whether schools should closed or not.

John O’Dowd, Northern Ireland’s Education Minister, said: "The sustainable schools policy has been tested in court on several occasions and was found to be a competent policy upon which to make decisions both about the future of individual schools and area planning more widely.

"I have already accepted the eight recommendations within the Northern Ireland Audit Office report and these are being progressed by my department."

The PAC said it was ‘unacceptable’ that the department could not provide accurate numbers regarding the surplus of places and claimed the need for more accurate enrolment figures was ‘a matter of urgency’.

John Dallat, deputy chair of the PAC, said: "We are concerned by the fact that the department has failed to recognise the flaws in its own management information. It is concerning that the department's calculation of the actual number of surplus school places may be substantially lower than the figure reported by the department.

“This is no basis upon which to implement such an important policy.