The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Man who pledged to shut schools could take control of council
The man who pledged to tackle Moray’s crippling repairs bill by closing schools is poised to become council leader.
Forres councillor George Alexander has made no secret of his desire to merge rural classrooms across the region to slash costs.
The former maths teacher pledged to make the issue his top priority during the run-up to the vote as the backlog of work topped £100million – making the region’s schools the worst in Scotland.
And yesterday, council insiders revealed Mr Alexander will be formally nominated as Moray Council’s leader tomorrow after a deal to form an administration was finally struck between six independents and the Conservative group.
Mr Alexander declined to comment last night, adding only: “We will see what happens on Wednesday.”
But fears have already been raised the new administration could become a “slash and burn” regime after other councillors were excluded from talks because they refused to back the introduction of compulsory redundancies among council staff.
Repair bills to get Moray’s 53 schools up to minimum standards soared by £57million over the last year.
Mr Alexander has spoken out previously of his wish to see schools operating at a fraction of their capacity being merged with others nearby.
However, yesterday sources revealed Heldon and Laich councillor Ryan Edwards, who previously said he would not join a group, backed them. Mr Edwards could not be contacted last night.
Two and a half years ago, hundreds of people protested against Moray Council plans to close schools across the region.
Eventually the local authority gave in to public pressure and agreed to keep the schools open.
Now it seems mergers could soon be back on the agenda if Councillor George Alexander takes the reins as council leader this week.
The former teacher made no secret of his plans to merge smaller schools in an effort to save cash.
Will we return to the school protests of 2014? Or is there now acceptance that change is required as councils try to handle ever tightening purse strings?