Request prompts JK Rowling query

A group’s request for £450 from the Kinross Common Good Fund to pay a writer to visit the town’s secondary school prompted one ex-councillor to inquire whether it had invited JK Rowling along to speak to students.

Former independent councillor Dave Cuthbert asked the question as he assessed the request from a group calling itself Kinross High School Literacy Development in his role as an advisory non-elected member of the Kinross Common Good Fund committee.

Mr Cuthbert said at the committee’s latest meeting:“I’ve never heard of the Kinross High School Literacy Development so I was wondering who they were [and] I was wondering if there’s any community involvement or membership on that group.”

Adding as chairman of the Kinrossshire Local Events Organisation he knew writers had agreed to attend events for smaller fees, he went on:“I was wondering who the author was, whether it was JK Rowling or something like that.”

The council’s community planning policy team leader Lee Haxton advised Mr Cuthbert the group was effectively the school and confirmed it had no involvement with the community, but said he didn’t know who the group had invited to speak at the school.

The committee opted not to fund the author’s visit, but did decide to grant the group another £150 it had asked for so the school can better support those pupils who choose to take part in the First Minister’s Reading Challenge.