Warnings as school vandalism repair bill increases

THE repair bill for vandalism of Scotland’s schools rose to almost £860,000 last year, according to new figures.

Over the past five years, councils have spent more than £4.5 million fixing deliberate damage.

In 2015/16 the figure rose to £859,011, up from £744,071 the previous year. But the cost was down considerably down on 2011/12, when vandalism cost £1,130,762.

The statistics were collated by the Tories using freedom of information requests, and are likely to be even higher because some local authorities, including Edinburgh City Council, did not provide figures.

Fife reported the highest cost, with damage there costing about £192,000 in 2015/16, followed by Aberdeen, at £155,000 and North Ayrshire at £60,000.

Tory education spokeswoman Liz Smith said: “It’s very worrying that vandals continue to regard schools as fair game.

“Our councils are hardpressed enough without having to fork out for needless repairs like this.

“People ought to remember that these are supposed to be safe environments for children to learn and teachers to operate.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Any vandalism inflicted on schools is totally unacceptable.

“The costs involved in repairing and addressing damage could be far better spent on school resources.

“Police Scotland takes a robust approach in investigating such incidents and we work with local authorities and local communities to encourage greater respect for school buildings and other community facilities.”