Plans for desperately-needed new Highland schools up in the air as crucial budget meeting cancelled

New schools in the north could hang in the balance after councillors cancelled a crucial meeting, with no new date set.

Highland Council was due to agree its capital budget at a special meeting on February 1.

But with just two weeks to go, the administration has confirmed that the meeting will not go ahead.

A spokesman for Highland Council says this is because the council still has not had confirmation that the Scottish Government will fund its major new school builds.

Opposition leader Alasdair Christie called the delay “unacceptable”.

What’s the problem?

Highland Council has a huge school estate spread across a geographical land mass the size of Belgium.

Many of those schools are in a poor state of repair, and Highland Council’s latest capital programme sought to invest £180 million in new builds and major refurbishments.

In October, the council applied to phase three of the Scottish Government’s Learning Estate Improvement Plan (LEIP).

The council asked for funding for a bundle of three primary schools: Beauly (Beauly), Dunvegan (Skye) and Park (Invergordon). It also submitted separate applications for St Clement’s School in Dingwall and Tornagrain Primary near Inverness.

However, with Highland Council’s capital budget less than two weeks away, it still doesn’t have a funding decision from the Scottish Government.

The council says this makes it impossible to move ahead.

“The special council meeting scheduled for February 1 has been cancelled,” said a spokesman. “This is because the council has not yet been informed of the outcome of its bids to the LEIP Fund (Learning Estate Investment Programme) for investing in the school estate.

“It is recognised that this is potentially a significant proportion of the council’s capital spend and it is not possible to undertake a review of the overall programme in the absence of certainty about what funding may or may not be coming forward.”

‘Deafening silence’

Opposition leader Alasdair Christie slammed the delay.

“It is unfortunate and disappointing to us all – and when I say all I mean councillors, teachers, communities, parents and children – that the meeting to set the capital programme on February 1 has had to be cancelled,” said Mr Christie.

He said the council expected an answer on their funding bid in November or December last year, but “the silence on funding these new schools is deafening”.

He added: “Once again the Highlands loses out and the delay in the funding announcement and consequential delay on setting the programme and getting on with the important task of building is unacceptable.”

However, Highland Council convener Bill Lobban claims Mr Christie agreed to cancel the capital budget meeting. Mr Lobban’s independent group is in a coalition administration with the SNP.

“The meeting was postponed following discussions with all council group leaders, who were in complete agreement that further information from Scottish Government was required before the capital programme could be considered,” Mr Lobban said.

What happens now?

Without a capital plan, Highland’s new schools hang in the balance.

Some, such as St Clement’s in Dingwall, have been many years in the making. As a school for the blind,  it caters for some of the most vulnerable children in Highland.

School inspectors dubbed the ageing building ‘unsuitable’ as far back as 2014, while local MSP Kate Forbes likened it to “something out of Oliver Twist”.

Last year, Dingwall councillor Margaret Paterson called the new building discussions the start of a “journey of joy”.

Meanwhile, Park Primary School has suffered a dramatic journey of its own, having suffered two devastating fires in 2020 and 2021. This leaves it in need of a completely new building.

Beauly and Dunvegan schools are also deemed unsuitable for modern education, and secured Highland Council funding in September. Tornagrain Primary, when complete, will serve the growing community to the west side of Inverness.

But Highland Council is relying on the Scottish Government LEIP money to deliver those schools.

Meanwhile, the delay to the capital programme could also affect the delivery of other major projects in the council plan.

This is the latest in a series of setbacks. Project costs have shot up 20-40% across the board, and councillors admit they can’t afford the £1 billion list they agreed in 2021.

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