LocalPPP schools aresafe

The news that no faults have been discovered at schools in the Wee County has been welcomed.

The Edinburgh schools scandal prompted local authorities across Scotland to check their buildings.

Clackmannanshire’s three secondary schools - Alloa Academy, Lornshill and Alva Academy - were constructed under a PPP contract by the Clackmannanshire Schools Education Partnership (CSEP) in 2007.

However, no faults have been discovered in the buildings and SNP Candidate for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Keith Brown, has welcomed the reassurances given by Clackmannanshire Council over the structural safety of the schools.

The three schools, which were opened in 2009, were built using a PFI model of funding, the total cost of which was £50.732 million.

And by the time the final payment is made in 2040, they will have cost Clackmannanshire tax payers more than £139 million.

However, Mr Brown was encouraged by the news that the buildings are safe after the drama in the capital.

He said: “I am pleased to have received assurances from Clackmannanshire Council that our three secondary schools, built under PFI, are structurally sound.

“The real issue when it comes to PFI is, of course, the huge debt that this funding model has incurred which will see the children currently attending these schools still repaying when their own children are being educated years from now.”