An independent commission looking into the future for Shropshire’s primary schools has published its report.

The commission was called in by Shropshire Council after anger at proposals to close or amalgamate a number of small schools announced at the beginning of last year.

The schools facing closure in south Shropshire were in Hope, Hopton Wafers, Onny and Rushbury. The council also recommended that Ashford Carbonell and Caynham schools should merge, with a similar proposal for Lydbury North and Clunbury schools.

In its report, the commission said that sufficient resources must be provided for larger schools to maintain classes of not more than 30, amid concern that money was being diverted to maintain more costly small schools.

It is also urging the council to examine the merits of federating small schools to make them more efficient to operate and to look at the policy of continuing to operate mixed aged classes.

Commenting on proposals to close 22 out of 140 schools in the county, the report said: “The Commission recognises that, in bringing forward its proposal to close 22 small schools so as to meet its anticipated funding gap, it was Shropshire County Council’s objective to preserve a viable network among its remaining primary schools, and to maintain educational standards.

“Unfortunately, the perception of most of those who gave evidence to the commission was that the impact of the closure proposals would have been to weaken the network significantly, by reducing the availability of primary schools for children in many parts of the county.”

The commission said amalgamating schools that are close together had less impact and recommended that the council review where this might take place.

It urged the council to involve parents in discussions over the future of education provision and to give weight to their views, and also to consider the effect on the community of closing or amalgamating schools.

The commission visited 12 schools as part of its work, including Ludlow Infants and Ludlow Junior School in November, the same month as a hearing was held at Ludlow Town FC.

In its report, the commission said: “Many participants in the hearings welcomed the opportunity to express their views and hear the range ofarguments. They observed differences between the conduct of the hearings and the consultation process which preceded the County Council’s consideration of possible school closures in January 2008.

“We believe that our hearings have provided the opportunity for all of those who wish to participate in the debate in Shropshire to do so.”

The report has been welcomed by a cross-party group of Shropshire councillors.

In a statement, the group said: “The members of the commission have brought their valuable expertise in education, rural affairs and local government together to produce a document will be a useful basis for the council’s ongoing consideration of primary schools in Shropshire.

“The publication of this report is just the beginning of a process that we shall be going through to make sure that the council makes the right decisions for Shropshire’s children.

“The Cross-Party Reference Group will continue to meet to consider the feedback from the various stakeholder meetings which the council will hold during the early autumn. We are inviting everyone in the county who has an interest in primary schools to give their views on how we should move forward in the light of the Commission’s report.

“We plan to hold a series of consultation events with all the groups who are involved, including school governors, headteachers, parent governors, parish and town councils and diocesan representatives.

“The council is also holding a special scrutiny committee on September 16 when the policy commission will present the report and hear feedback from members of the committee and other stakeholders.

“Only when we have gathered all their views will we begin the process of taking decisions about the recommendations in the report.”