COUNCIL leaders have declared an ­official dispute with the Scottish Government and the country's education minister over plans for new legislation to make it harder to close rural schools.

The umbrella body for Scotland's 32 local authorities has accused Michael Russell, the Education Secretary, of "bad faith" over the controversial issue.

A war of words erupted after the SNP administration published plans for a change in the law to give further protection to threatened schools.

It follows a series of controversial closure decisions by councils which have been unpopular with local communities.

In addition, Mr Russell, who has the power to call in decisions for an appeal, has faced accusations of bias after he lost a lengthy legal fight to keep a number of Western Isles schools open. It was suggested he had done so to shore up support for the local SNP MSP.

As a result, ministers plan to change the law so that a decision to close a school, once called in by ministers, would be reviewed by an independent referral body.

Another change means that if plans to close a school are refused a fresh proposal cannot be made for another five years.

The Scottish Government is also to introduce a presumption against closure enshrined in law for rural schools under the existing Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.

However, Cosla, which represents councils, said a prime concern was the retention of the current stipulation that local authority officials have to prove the educational benefit to pupils of shutting a school contrary to the wishes of an independent commission on rural schools. The commission said it would be sufficient grounds if the impact of closure was neutral.

Cosla's president David O'Neill said: "The Government's breaking of the consensus around the commission's report after almost two years of work, and after councils voluntarily took the decision not to pursue rural school closures, has created a lot of bad feeling within Cosla.

"I and many colleagues see this as an issue of bad faith on the part of the Cabinet Secretary, and it is for this reason that Cosla is in dispute with Government on the rural commission.

"It will be for Cosla to decide how to respond to the Government's proposed changes to the 2010 Act, but nothing I have seen so far suggests that this is anything other than a massive missed opportunity and a decision that will continue to affect local and Scottish Government's relationship for some time to come."

However, Mr Russell insisted he was "absolutely determined" educational benefit should remain an important part of any proposal, adding: "I am convinced these amendments will bring forward will ensure this remains central to the decision-making process."

He was backed by Sandy Longmuir, chairman of the Scottish Rural Schools Network, who said: "It is essential to demonstrate the educational benefit of any proposals and to have a robust appeals process."

Liz Smith, the Conservative ­spokeswoman for education, agreed that existing procedures were "deeply flawed and not fully transparent".

Liberal Democrat education ­spokesman Liam McArthur said Mr Russell wanted to retain the right to call in council decisions, but leave a separate body to determine if those decisions were justified. He said: "He would like to play to the gallery while leaving others to carry the can."

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland teaching union, welcomed the changes saying: "It is welcome that the Scottish Government intends to ensure that the processes surrounding potential school closures should be transparent and will continue to be based on the potential educational benefits for pupils."