Council faces spending quiz

A councillor has said serious questions have to be asked after PKC spent a six-figure sum on legal action to try and save face.

Carse of Gowrie Labour councillor Alasdair Bailey asked why taxpayers’ money was used to fight the Scottish Government to push the closure of Abernyte PS.

Papers published last week revealed PKC spent £110,000 on its legal action against the Scottish Government.

In May 2019 PKC’s lifelong learning committee voted to close Abernyte PS. This decision was called in by Scottish ministers and referred to the school closure review panel.

The council went to the Court of Session in Edinburgh for a judicial review. They lost the case and last month the school closure review panel refused consent to close Abernyte PS.

A report on the matter detailing the costs will be discussed by the lifelong learning committee this week.

Cllr Bailey, who voted against Abernyte’s closure, told the PA: “Serious questions still need to be answered about why PKC has spent £110,000 on legal action against the Scottish Government which was embarked on based on the weakest of justifications.

“This isn’t just about Abernyte Primary School any longer. Taxpayers across the area should be alert to the fact that this council was too proud to admit it might have made a mistake in pushing through the closure of Abernyte and as a result spent £110,000 to try to save their own faces.

“That same £110,000 directed towards school budgets would have had a transformative impact on the outcomes of children in our area. That money could have seen us employ an additional classroom assistant for more than four years. Instead it is now sitting in the pockets of Edinburgh law firms.

“I tried to bring the decision to proceed with this legal action for debate in a public meeting but was prevented from doing so, meaning that the decision was taken behind closed doors.

“The only councillors who did have some level of oversight of this decision were the convener of education and the leader of the council.

“Either they didn’t have all of the information made available to them, in which case they should have demanded it, or they failed in their duty to properly scrutinise the materials in front of them. Neither is acceptable in these important roles.

“I suspect that the reality was that they were so obsessed with saving face and excited at the prospect of locking horns with the SNP-controlled Scottish Government that they forgot that they were spending a significant chunk of local taxpayer money on this highly risky exercise.

“It really concerns me and it should concern every taxpayer here that this Tory-led council is more obsessed with scoring points against the Scottish Government than they are with delivering the level of excellence that we should expect in our schools.”

Clllr Bailey welcomed the promise of a catchment review for Abernyte Primary School but wants it done “right away”.

He added: “Abernyte now has a secure future and we can achieve best value for taxpayers by allowing more kids to attend it.”

Caroline Shiers, convener of the lifelong learning committee, said: “At the committee there will be an opportunity for all elected members to consider the report and to scrutinise the process followed by officers, decisions taken and the outcomes of the decision by the schools closure review panel.

“I have also asked that a recommendation be included that the paper goes to the council’s scrutiny committee for further consideration as there are important considerations for discussions around our school estate in the future.”

That money could have seen us employ an additional classroom assistant for four years