Government policy (or target) is 18 - but the legislation still states 30 - hence why appeals, if someone chooses to take it that far - can be won.
There is an argument between the councils and the government as to whether or not the "concordat" provides sufficient funds for the councils to achieve 18 per calss. There is the added complication that the funding for education is not ring fenced.
Added to that the fact that many schools physically don't have enough class rooms for 18 per class. As is obviously the case in Livingston.
At our own school, we lost the "noisy quiet" room 2 years ago and we lost the library this year. There is now not a single "spare" room in the single. The communal area between the class rooms is now mulit-purpose: computer room, strucutred play and library. The dining hall is also the gym and assmebly room. The head has a tiny office, the amin ladies an even smaller room. The depute head doesn't have an office - although she does use the (tiny) first aid room on occasion for "private" meetings.
As a result, although the school has been taking in 2 P1 classes for the last few years, next year it physically won't be able to. Which means that although the school has alwyas been able to accommodate placing requests (usually about half of the intake), as of next year, it won't be able to do so - unless a temporary classroom is put in. Unfortunately, the Education dept is not prepared to pay for that - but the "other" primary school (whose catchment is where we get most of the placing requests) is also now busting at the seams. So what is going to happen next year? The geogrpahy of where we live means that other primary schools - even though we are inner city Glasgow - are a long way away and across extremely busy roads.
The irony is that there is, within half a mile, a catholic primary school which is less than half full - and what's more, of its attendance, has only two catholics.