Schools fiasco ‘could affect whole of UK’

CONSTRUCTION defects that closed schools in Edinburgh could have implications for buildings across the UK, according to the council leader who commissioned an inquiry into the fiasco.

Children have now returned to 17 schools which were closed in April following the collapse of a wall at Oxgangs Primary. Around 7,500 pupils and more than 600 staff had to be relocated while safety inspections and repairs were carried out.

City of Edinburgh Council leader Andrew Burns said Scottish and UK ministers should scrutinise the inquiry’s findings when it concludes in December.

Similar defects in wall and header ties, which bind brick walls to the main structure, have been identified in other buildings including Lourdes Primary in Glasgow, he said.

The Labour councillor rejected opposition claims that the decision to fund the

‘Ministers will follow investigation’

schools in a public-private partnership (PPP) contributed to the defects, saying the issue was construction-related.

He said Lourdes, which was not financed under PPP, had similar problems with wall and header ties.

The schools were built by Miller Construction, which was acquired by Galliford Try in 2014, with maintenance provided by the Edinburgh Schools Partnership (ESP) with partner Amey BPO Services. Mr Burns said the council would be able to hold private companies accountable for the defects, which have already cost ESP many millions of pounds in withheld council payments.

He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: ‘I’m quite sure that ministers in both the Scottish and UK Government will continue to show an interest in what comes out of the investigation in due course.’

A trade union coalition, including the STUC, Unite and Unison Scotland, has written to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urging her to hold a Scotland-wide inquiry into PPP.