Current status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the outcome of its review of the guidance on mothballing.
Statutory responsibility for decisions about the learning estate, including mothballing, rest with local authorities. The Scottish Government issues guidance to support local authorities’ implementation of their statutory responsibilities.
As the First Minister stated on 24 April, we are reviewing current guidance on the mothballing of schools and nurseries to provide greater clarity on whether it is an appropriate action to take. Scottish Government officials have regular engagement with local authorities and their representative bodies on a range of issues, including mothballing, and Ministers are considering a range of local government and stakeholder views on mothballing through the review process.
We will update Parliament further on this work in due course. While the review is underway, the existing guidance on mothballing (which is included in the Statutory Guidance on the Schools Consultation (Scotland) Act 200) remains in place.