Councillors raise ‘mishandled’ primary school capacity with Audit Scotland

A LABOUR councillor has hit out at the “gross mishandling” of the saga which has left a Renfrewshire school facing capacity issues.

Parents of children at Dargavel Primary School, in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, were outraged after it emerged space could be needed for as many as 1,100 pupils in the catchment area in the future – a figure double the school’s intended maximum of 548. Previous sums predicted the register would not exceed 430.

A review has been ordered in a bid to get to the bottom of botched calculations, while a short-term fix of six modular classrooms – at a cost of around £2 million – was signed off by councillors just last week.

Councillor Gillian Graham, Labour education spokesperson, has now raised the situation at the facility in correspondence with watchdogs Audit Scotland.

In the letter, she raised “serious concerns” about what she described as “the gross mishandling of the development of Dargavel Primary School”, which only opened in January of this year.

Councillor Graham hit out at a “a lack of governance and oversight by the administration” and added: “The financial risk resulting from this mismanagement raises significant concerns about the council’s leadership at both administration and officer level. Best value is not apparent, nor is accountability.”

She requested an urgent investigation of the process used to predict the school roll, implications of the error on the council’s capital plan and associated revenue budgets, and governance arrangements at elected member and senior officer levels.

Audit Scotland provides services to the Accounts Commission, which is the independent body that holds Scottish councils to account.

A spokesperson said: “We are aware of these issues at Renfrewshire Council regarding the development of Dargavel Primary School and the external auditors are considering the concerns raised.”

It is understood council officers have already been in contact with Audit Scotland.

A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson added: “Councillors on the education and children’s services policy board have agreed an external review will investigate the circumstances behind the error into the projected school roll for Dargavel Primary School.”