Not enough cash for a new Brechin high school
DESPITE plans being on the table to invest £1.25 billion in Scotland's schools to reduce the number of pupils in unsuitable school accommodation, particularly in secondary schools, Angus Council has confirmed that it is only currently negotiating for investment in Arbroath's primary schools.
The news comes as the convener of the council's education committee said that the reason Brechin is not being provided with a new high school is because the local authority doesn't have the money to build one.
The Scottish Government's education secretary Fiona Hyslop, last week, outlined a blueprint to pump the money into Scotland's schools through the Scottish Futures Trust.
Under that system, Holyrood will provide around two thirds of the funding for new secondary schools and half of the funding for new primary schools, making new school construction projects far more affordable for local authorities and, according to Hyslop, will deliver around 55 additional new schools.
With Brechin High School approaching 40 years old, some may have thought that it would be one of the facilities under consideration for some form of renovation.
However, a spokesperson for Angus Council said: "No local authorities in Scotland, including Angus, currently have projects funded by the Scottish Futures Trust.
"However, Angus Council is currently taking part in discussions with the SFT regarding future funding proposals for the proposed Arbroath schools project."
Although the high school is set to have 1 million spent on it, the plans for which have not been decided yet, the council's education convener has said that there is simply not enough money to build a brand new school.
Peter Nield, who also serves as a councillor for Arbroath West and Letham, said that it would take around 35-40 million to carry out such a project, but the council do not have that to spend.
A new high school was recently successfully opened in Carnoustie - even though it was a younger building than its Brechin counterpart - as part of a Public-Private Partnership project which saw new buildings built both there and in Forfar.
"We will be sitting down during the forthcoming summer break and analysing a detailed estate plan of Brechin High School," said councillor Nield.
"Part of the reason for this is that we don't have the estimated 35-40 million to spend on building a new school.
"So we must sit down and flag up what are the priorities at the school. We will talk to the teaching staff, the parent council and also take into consideration the views of the pupils and the wider community. Once those priorities have been identified, we will then take forward detailed plans of how the 1 million pot will be spent."
A spokesperson for Angus Council confirmed: "Over the coming months, Angus Council will be looking in further detail at the phase 1 works required at Brechin High School. This will inform discussions with school staff, parents and the wider community and will be the basis of further reports to the council."
Last week, John Swinney, SNP Member of the Scottish Parliament for North Tayside and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, welcomed the announcement that the Scottish Government is to deliver extensive new investment in Scotland's schools through the Scottish Futures Trust.
Commenting on Ms Hyslop's announcement, Mr Swinney had said: "I am delighted at the progress that the Scottish Government has made on delivering even more new schools across the country through the Scottish Futures Trust.
"The previous administration promised to renew 100 schools between 2006 and 2009, but this Government has already exceeded this target, with 150 school rebuilding or refurbishment projects completed to date, and over 250 will have been delivered by 2011.
"This new investment will go even further, funding around 55 brand new schools, thereby providing state of the art facilities for an additional 35,000 pupils across Scotland.
"My colleague, Fiona Hyslop, has stated that schools in the most need will be targeted for replacement and as such I strongly encourage Perth and Kinross and Angus Councils to engage fully with the Scottish Government and the Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA) to ensure that pupils here benefit from this new funding.
"This is a real opportunity to make a lasting change in the state of North Tayside's school estate and I hope that Perth and Kinross and Angus Councils will grasp it with both hands.
"When the SNP came to office in 2007 there were 260,000 pupils in poor classroom accommodation.
"That figure should be down to around 100,000 by 2011 thanks to measures that have already been taken and will drop by a further third to 65,000 thanks to this latest announcement.
"Working with CoSLA and Local Authorities, the SNP Government is continuing to deliver real improvements for people in this area."
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Weather for Brechin
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
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Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
