Defects are found in four more Capital schools

Defects have been found at four more Edinburgh schools in an inspection instigated after 17 schools were temporarily closed due to safety fears following a wall collapse.

The further flaws were highlighted to MSPS as Edinburgh City Council’s head of property and facilities management Peter Watton said the local authority “got it wrong”.

Mspsalsoheardpressure on contractors meant corners appeared to have been deliberately cut in schools built through public-private partnership (PPP) schemes. The council said the defects at Currie, Towerbank and Crammond primary schools and Valley Park Community Centre are being fixed in the summer while those at Queensferry High School have already been dealt with.

They were discovered through a city-wide building investigation sparked after around nine tonnes of masonry collapsed at Oxgangs Primary School in January 2016. Initial investigations in schools built as part of the same PPP scheme found ties needed to connect the walls to steel beams had not been used in some cases.

The council temporarily shut 17 schools after the Edinburgh Schools Partnership said it was unable to provide safety assurances for the properties.