Anxious wait for Ross-shire schools St Clement's and Park Primary as Highland Council capital investment programme reviewed amidst bid to Scottish Futures Trust (SFT)
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Questions have been raised about the future of two desperately needed Ross-shire school projects.
It emerged that Highland Council is to review its capital investment programme while applying for additional funding.
Five school projects will be proposed to the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), which will then decide how many of the projects get the cash and a decision could come by the end of the year.
The “bundle” consists of Park in Invergordon, St Clement's in Dingwall, Beauly, Dunvegan and Tornagrain, as these are the projects that are best suited to the criteria set out by the SFT.
St Clement’s houses some of the most vulnerable pupils in the region in conditions described as “Dickensian” by local MSP, Kate Forbes.
Park Primary suffered two blazes leaving the school community essentially homeless and lodging in space at Invergordon Academy.
The Learning Estate Improvement Programme (LEIP) does not help with the construction of the schools but is nevertheless vital as it pays their running costs for 25 years.
It is hoped that by securing LEIP cash for five schools the overall costs to the council will make the projects more affordable.
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The concern is that the SFT chooses which schools will get the funding while the council battles skyrocketing construction costs due to inflation.
Housing and property committee chairwoman, Councillor Glynis Campbell-Sinclair said: “The economic landscape is very different from when the council approved all 10 projects back in December 2021 and for that reason, a full review of the capital programme was agreed by members in June 2022 and a revised capital programme will be submitted to the council in due course.
“Despite the complexities of the current financial constraints, the report [about the five schools] highlights the immense work being undertaken to drive progress with all projects to design, pre-planning and build stage.”
Lack of progress would be catastrophic news for St Clement’s after a wait spanning more than two decades.
Angela Maclean (Dingwall and Seaforth) said: "It is a concern as this LEIP funding is not guaranteed although there have been discussions with Scottish Government officials over what projects they would look more favourably on.
"If Highland Council don’t get the funding then it will be a fight for the small capital funding that will be available. There are reserves but with pay claims the increased heating costs and other pressures it is going to be a challenging few years ahead.
"My question to the leader of the council regarding St Clement's School was to ensure that the replacement build remains the focus of this new administration’s capital programme.
"Having a large intake of new councillors who are keen to see improvements to or replacement of schools in their own wards, and who may not be aware of the process to get to this stage, I wanted to reinforce that promise."
At the same time the case for Park Primary could scarcely be stronger but there are worries here too.
Councillor Molly Nolan (Cromarty Firth) said: "Unfortunately, there are still too many questions and not enough answers from this SNP-Independent administration when it comes to Park Primary.
“We don't know, for example, if the new school will still be contained within the capital programme if the LEIP bid fails. That means that we don't know if or when it will be built. Pupils, parents and staff deserve more certainty than that.
"Last week, the SNP leader of the council told opposition councillors that he couldn't give us a timescale as to when he would bring forward the administration's revised capital programme. That isn't good enough. We need to see it at the very earliest opportunity.
"People deserve transparency from their council."
