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Shortfall from Scottish Government to hit Highland school upgrades


By Scott Maclennan

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DILAPIDATED and overcrowded Highland schools could miss out on vital upgrade cash after a £25 million shortfall in expected funding from the Scottish Government.

Eleven schools have been prioritised for investment by Highland Council – including Fortrose Academy, Nairn Academy and Beauly Primary.

But in a report on its long-awaited capital budget, which will go before a full council on Thursday, council officers will warn that “alternative means of delivering necessary improvements” may need to be considered, including “best use of other funding streams” following news of the shortfall.

The council had anticipated a £75 million investment to deal with school condition issues – £50 million from the government and £25 million from the local authority. But now officers expect the government only to match council funding – a drop of £25 million.

The papers state: “Eleven priority schools were identified that could potentially benefit from such funding.

“A consequence of that likely change is that the total £75 million that the approved plan had assumed would be available for investment in schools will now only be £50 million.”

The news raises the possibility that some schools may face delays in getting the work done – although Beauly Primary is one of three that could receive expansions regardless, owing to “urgent” capacity issues.

Inverness south councillor Carolyn Caddick, who had served on the budget team, believes the shortfall is bad news for the Highland school estate.

She said: “I think the leadership may have been hoping that the Scottish Government would help reduce the budget pressures by directly funding a couple of new schools, making more of our Highland Council funding available for the remainder of our very poor school estate.

“However, it looks like this lifeline is now very unlikely to be forthcoming and unless the Highland Council can make some income commercially, we are going to be much more limited with our capital spend over the next three to five years, which is nowhere near enough to cope with our increasing school role in some areas and maintain our dilapidated school estate.”


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