Palnackie Primary School closure decision: letter to Dumfries and Galloway Council
Letter from Learning Directorate to Dumfries and Galloway Council, with decision to close Palnackie Primary School.
To: Gillian Brydson, Dumfries and Galloway Council
From: Orlando Mason, Deputy Director, Workforce, Infrastructure and Digital Learning Directorate
23 March 2026
Dear Gillian,
Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010: Dumfries And Galloway Council’s decision to close Palnackie Primary School
I refer to your email of 23 February 2026 notifying Scottish Ministers of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s decision of 17 February 2026 to implement the proposal to close Palnackie Primary School. Ministers have considered this proposal in line with the requirements set out in the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 (“the 2010 Act”).
Under section 17 of the 2010 Act, Ministers may only issue a call-in notice if it appears to them that the education authority may have failed:
(a) in a significant regard to comply with the requirements imposed on it by (or under) the Act so far as they are relevant in relation to the closure proposal, or
(b) to take proper account of a material consideration relevant to its decision to implement the proposal.
Section 15(2) of the 2010 Act requires an education authority to provide a copy of the proposal paper and the consultation report prepared under the Act to Ministers when notifying them of a closure proposal.
Section 15(4) of the 2010 Act requires Ministers to take into account any relevant representations made to them by any person during the three week period from the date that a closure decision is made. In relation to this closure proposal, the three-week period began on 17 February 2026 and expired on 9 March 2026. No representations were received.
Having reviewed the documents provided by Dumfries and Galloway Council under section 15(2) and considered all relevant representations made under section 15(4), Ministers consider that Dumfries and Galloway Council has fulfilled its obligations under the 2010 Act and do not intend to issue a call-in notice for this proposal.
Dumfries and Galloway Council may now implement its decision to close Palnackie Primary School in line with the timescales set out in its proposal paper. As noted in His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in Scotland report on the proposal, Dumfries and Galloway Council should continue to liaise with stakeholders about the future use of the school building.
Orlando Mason
Deputy Director, Workforce, Infrastructure and Digital Learning Directorate
