EDUCATION chiefs in Herefordshire must carry out a further review of schools in the county after plans to close more than 30 schools were withdrawn this week.

And Herefordshire Council's children's services scrutiny committee said schools, communities and council members all needed to be part of the discussions before proposals are put together. Council leaders have accepted the need for a review but questioned the procedures used to put the original proposals together and the way they were shared with headteachers before anyone else had been briefed.

Councillor Sally Robertson, chairman of the children's services scrutiny committee, said: "Scrutiny committee was not aware of the proposals until the information was released on Friday, January 11. I regret the upset the draft proposals have caused to schools and their communities.

"As a council, we have some very difficult decisions to make over the future of our children's education. The council has been struggling financially for years, and now the Government is pushing us into a review situation. We have been advised that if we don't address the surplus capacity issue the Government could take money away from us."

Earlier this month, the council published draft proposals to close 35 primary schools, and reopen 17, and close four secondary schools in the county, in response to falling pupil numbers.

But the proposals were met with opposition from the schools and parents, and this week were withdrawn.

A report will now be prepared and presented to the council's cabinet at the end of February updating members of the council outlining the timescales of the review.

The meeting requested that revised proposals be taken to the children's services scrutiny committee before being issued for consultation in September 2009.