Cost of school fight set to be revealed
Council to make legal bill public at August meeting
Perth and Kinross Council will reveal how much it spent on legal fees during its fight to close Abernyte Primary next month, the PA can reveal.
The local authority previously refused to reveal its spend when asked by the PA under Freedom of Information legislation.
We appealed the decision, but the Scottish Information Commissioner backed the local authority and said it would make the figure public at the next lifelong learning committee on August 26.
PKC took the Scottish Government to the Court of Session after Holyrood called in the authority’s decision to close Abernyte in July last year.
A judicial review was held in February and PKC’s case was rejected by Lady Wise.
In May 2019, councillors had voted to close the rural school.
In our original FoI request, the PA asked how much the council had spent on legal fees and how much it cost to hire a QC.
PKC told us in June it believed the information was exempt from disclosure because it could “prejudice substantially the ability of the council to conduct its business”.
This decision was upheld by the Scottish Information Commissioner, but in its response, which we received on Thursday, they said: “As you are aware, the school will be open for academic session 2020/21 whilst a review of the proposed closure is undertaken by the school closure review panel and it was always the council’s intention to publish this information as part of a report to the lifelong learning committee. The next meeting is scheduled for August 26, 2020.
“I agree that there is a public interest in knowing how much money the council spends on the legal process for the proposed closure, and there have been a number of requests for information on this subject.
“The committee report allows all information to be gathered and prepared to answer the questions posed by yourself and others on this matter.”
Pete Wishart MP described the situation as “frustrating”.
He said: “Whilst it is welcome to hear that the public will finally get to hear what the mammoth legal bill is that the council have spent on trying to defend their desire to close Abernyte Primary, it is extremely frustrating that this will continue to drag on till the end of next month.
“Parents, pupils and staff at Abernyte deserve full disclosure from the local authority on this matter, and up until now it really feels like they are trying to conceal every last detail.
“The manner in which Perth and Kinross Council have attempted to hide behind FOI legislation, considering they were always going to have to publish the figure, has been nothing short of shameful.
“It is about time that this legal debacle can be put to bed, so that we can get on with continuing to strengthen the future of this great rural school.”
A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council said: “We are engaging with the School Closure Review Panel as they undertake their considerations in relation to this case.
“We are committed to transparency and will provide all relevant information, including costs, at the conclusion of the process.”