To ask the Minister of Education to detail (i) the stakeholders identified; (ii) the number of responses received; and (iii) a breakdown of the nature of responses during the consultation period leading up to the merger of Coleraine High and Coleraine Institution and increased enrolment at Coleraine College.

A statutory Development Proposal (DP) is required where a significant change to a school, such as an amalgamation, is proposed. The DP process is contained in Article 14 of the Education and Libraries (NI) Order 1986.

Prior to the publication of a DP, the statutory process requires the proposer to consult with the Board of Governors, staff and parents of pupils at the school or schools concerned. In the case of the Coleraine schools, the North Eastern Education and Library Board is the proposer of the DPs for the controlled schools – Coleraine High and Coleraine College – while the Trustees of Coleraine AI, a voluntary school, are the proposer for its DP. The Board is additionally responsible for consulting any other school which would, in its opinion, be affected by the proposal.

You may wish to contact the North Eastern Board and Coleraine AI in respect of their pre-publication consultations.

The Department’s role in the process commences once a DP is published. The publication of the DP initiates a two-month period during which objections and comments can be sent directly to the Department. With regard to Development Proposals 288, 289 and 290 for the amalgamation of Coleraine Academical Institution and Coleraine High School, no comments were received during the two-month period.

You may wish to note that my decision on each DP and the documentation on which I based that decision are available on the Department of Education’s website: http://www.deni.gov.uk/index/schools-and-infrastructure-2/area-planning/14-schools_estate_devprop_pg.htm.