Legal row threatens post-Covid schools return:

Councils fear being sued if staff or children contract Covid and may refuse to reopen classrooms

PUPILS’ return to school after lockdown is under threat because of a legal row between councils and the Scottish Government.

Education Secretary John Swinney announced two weeks ago that all children would return to school full-time in August without social distancing if safe to do so.

But local authorities, which were not conlegally sulted, fear they may be sued if a pupil or staff member dies after contracting coronavirus and have sought legal advice.

If that guidance, being drawn up by a QC, warns they might be liable, councils could refuse to open schools.

One local authority source said: ‘Councils were furious when this U-turn was announced without any warning, and they’re now seeking legal clarity over any possible liability.

‘What happens if there’s an outbreak in a school, as there undoubtedly will be? Imagine a 60year-old dinner lady contracted the virus and passed away.

‘Her family might, understandably, ask whether it was safe to open the school. Would it be enough for the council to say that the Scottish Government said it was safe and they just did what they were told?

‘Councils need to be clear on their legal responsibilities and liabilities.

‘It might be that they take the view that they are happy to go along with government advice. But it may be the case they are not happy to do that, and they say we won’t go back until the 17th August or even the 24th.

‘A similar situation could also arise if a school later has to close because of a case or cases of the virus.’

Most pupils in Scotland last attended school on March 20. The Scottish Government initially said schools would return on August 11 with a mixture of learning at home and in class.

However, it faced a backlash from parents after it emerged ‘blended learning’ could see some pupils in school for as little as one day a week.

Mr Swinney then announced ‘blended learning’ would be a contingency plan and he intended schools would reopen full-time for all pupils – without social distancing – if safe to do so.

Opponents said it was the ‘mother and father of all climbdowns’.

However, now it has emerged that councils are so concerned about the possibility of legal action against them that the umbrella body representing them, Cosla, has sought expert advice from a QC.

The move was revealed in Highland Council education committee papers on the reopening of schools.

It reported on a Cosla meeting on June 26, three days after Mr Swinney’s U-turn, which made ‘a formal expression of disappointment that this decision was taken with no consultation with local authorities, trade unions or other stakeholders’.

It demanded that upon confirmation of a full return to school, ‘scientific advice available to the Scottish Government on which this decision was based is made available to Cosla and local authority leaders’.

The report added that Cosla legal advice in relation to the respective responsibilities for deciding on the safe opening of schools, or the future closure of schools in the event of an outbreak of Covid-19 in a school’.

Many parents in Scotland are still in the dark about exactly when their children will go back.

So far Falkirk, Fife, Perth and Kinross, Western Isles, Highland and South Ayrshire Councils say not all pupils will attend full-time immediately, although most will attend as normal within days of reopening.

While a number of local authorities have published relatively detailed proposals, others pointedly say they are awaiting further Scottish Government guidance before sharing final plans with families.

East Ayrshire Council said in a statement: ‘Individual schools will not be in a position to publish adapted plans until further information becomes available.’

A Cosla spokesman said: ‘Councils are working hard to reopen schools in a way which supports and protects the health and wellbeing of pupils.’

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: ‘We have been working closely with Cosla throughout the corona-virus crisis and will continue to do so. This includes current work alongside Cosla and local authorities to develop guidance, based on scientific evidence, on how to safely to reopen schools.’

‘U-turn was announced without any warning’