Three councillors have challenged Cabinet's decision to consult on closing Alexander First School in Windsor. A scrutiny panel decides what happens on 16 November.
The council’s plan to consult on closing Alexander First School in Windsor has been challenged by three councillors. They have “called in” the Cabinet decision of 20 October, and a scrutiny panel will decide on Monday 16 November whether Cabinet must think again.
The call-in was received on 28 October, the last day it could be lodged. It was signed by Councillors Carole Da Costa, Wisdom Da Costa and Neil Knowles (call-in report). The papers were published on 6 November.
The consultation was due to run from 2 November to 11 December. The councillors’ form says, in plain English, that the decision “is on hold until the challenge is dealt with” (call-in form). Our story on the original decision has the background.
The quick answer
- What: a challenge to Cabinet’s decision to consult on closing Alexander First School at the end of the 2027/28 school year.
- Who: Councillors Carole Da Costa, Wisdom Da Costa and Neil Knowles.
- When: the Adults, Children and Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel meets at 6.30pm on Monday 16 November in the Council Chamber at Maidenhead Town Hall.
- What they want: the decision sent back to Cabinet, with more information in front of it before any consultation starts.
The councillors’ three grounds
The form runs to nine pages and quotes the Cabinet papers paragraph by paragraph. It makes three main arguments.
1. The costs and the scoring do not match. The council’s own figures put the cost of closing Alexander at £2.08m in 2028/29, the highest of the 14 options. The next highest is £0.90m. That figure includes the school’s £1.2m deficit, which passes to the council if a council-run school closes. Yet on the “lowest costs to implement” measure, Alexander ranked sixth of 14.
Officers have confirmed in writing that the closing school’s deficit “is not counted in the implementation part of the options appraisal”. They accept that “arguably it could be”, and say the deficit already weighs heavily in other parts of the scoring.
2. The weightings were never explained. Finance and quality of education each counted for 22.5% of the ranking. The form says the papers do not say who chose the weights, or on what evidence. Officers told the councillors that “there is no record” of what changes were tested. They gave one example:
“doubling the SEND weighting to 15% and reducing the financial weighting from 22.5% to 15% puts Alexander First School into second place”
The appendix holding the scores was published on the afternoon of 19 October, the day before Cabinet met, after a ward councillor asked for it a second time.
3. Children and service families. In January 2026, most of the school’s pupils came from service families. The form says the papers do not show how the Armed Forces Covenant shaped the recommendation. Officers have since agreed in writing that the Covenant “will need to be specifically referred to when the decision comes back to Cabinet”.
The councillors also say the appraisal did not look at keeping Alexander open as a mainstream school with special needs provision added. The school already runs two inclusion bases of its own, one for speech and language and one for social, emotional and mental health needs.
The council’s own risk table rates a “major movement of pupils out” once consultation is announced as major and very likely, even after its planned precautions. The form says there is no plan for keeping the school staffed if that happens.
What the figures show
The figures come from Table D5 of the Cabinet papers, as set out in the call-in form. The costs include any revenue deficit, redundancies and extra home to school transport.
| School | Cost in 2028/29 |
|---|---|
| Alexander | £2.08m |
| Homer | £0.90m |
| Hilltop | £0.84m |
| King’s Court | £0.68m |
| Braywood | £0.66m |
| Eton Wick | £0.53m |
| The Queen Anne | £0.49m |
| Eton Porny | £0.45m |
| The Royal | £0.41m |
| Trinity St Stephen | £0.36m |
| Dedworth Green | £0.28m |
| St Edward’s | £0.20m |
| Clewer Green | £0.04m |
| Oakfield | £0.04m |
The form also points out that four other options would cut Windsor’s overall first school deficit by more than closing Alexander by 2033/34. Closing Alexander would cut it by £2.19m. The largest reduction, for The Queen Anne option, is £3.15m, followed by Hilltop at £3.06m, Trinity St Stephen at £2.71m and Homer at £2.26m.
The councillors say they are “not saying the cheapest option must win”. Their point is that Cabinet “wasn’t shown how the scores and the costs fit together”.
What happens on 16 November
The councillors will explain their reasons first. Ward councillors who did not sign can speak for up to five minutes, if they register with Democratic Services by noon the day before. The Cabinet Member and officers will then answer questions, and the panel votes.
The panel has three options, under the council’s constitution:
- take no further action, in which case the decision takes effect straight away and the consultation can begin
- refer the decision back to Cabinet, which must reconsider within 28 days
- refer it to Full Council, if it decides the decision falls outside the council’s budget or policy framework
In most cases Cabinet would still make the final decision.
What it means for you
- If your child is at Alexander: nothing changes at the school now. No decision on closure has been made, and even on the original timetable a final decision was not due until early 2027.
- If you want to follow it: the panel meeting is open to the public, in the Council Chamber. The public consultation itself cannot start until the call-in is dealt with.
- If you are a ward resident: your ward councillor can ask to speak at the meeting.
We will report the panel’s decision.
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