Parents and MSPS call for school probe to be transparent and independent
RENFREWSHIRE Council has insisted an investigation into a new blunder-hit
£18 million school will be made public.
Parents and politicians have expressed concerns over the authority’s planned review into the string of errors that left Dargavel Primary too small to have capacity for its catchment area.
The new building can only accommodate 430 pupils, despite forecasts predicting more than 1,100 will be eligible for a place.
The school is already over capacity at 463 pupils. Numbers are set to rise to around 620 next year, and over 700 the year after.
To help with pupil numbers next year, around £2m will be spent on so-called “modular classrooms” which have been dismissed as portacabins by furious local politicians and parents.
Earlier this week, Alan Kelly from the parents’ council, and local MSPS Neil Bibby and Natalie Don met Education Secretary Shirley Anne Summerville.
Mr Kelly told The Herald the minister echoed their feelings “that this is an unbelievable mistake.”
He said: “She also shared our views that an ‘external enquiry’ where those being enquired into are the ones writing the terms of reference, and selecting the enquiring body, does not meet the Scottish Government definition of external, or independent. It’s also not even transparent.”
Mr Bibby said the meeting revealed that the council had “made no representations to their SNP colleagues at Holyrood for the extra funding needed to sort this farce out.
“I find the lack of urgency in resolving this disrespectful to this community,” he said.
“These parents have been let down by gross incompetence. Portacabins are not an acceptable long-term solution in today’s Scotland.
“We need to learn lessons from this and make sure no other children in Renfrewshire lose out. It is time for an independent inquiry into how this was allowed to happen.”
Natalie Don said the council had been aware of anxiety over pupil numbers for some time, but that whenever they were challenged, “we were provided with reassurances that the predictions given by council officers were accurate.”
She added: “It is extremely disappointing that we are in this position now where the initial fears expressed by myself and the community have come to pass. My focus now is ensuring that a long-term solution is found that ensures that children in Dargavel continue to receive the highest possible standard of education.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said findings of the review should be made public, “to provide parents, carers and pupils with the clarity they deserve.”
Renfrewshire Council said it had hired an external company to “carry out their own projections of the future school roll, and to verify the extensive work we have already done”.
A spokesman said this would help it “decide how best to expand school capacity for the Dargavel area”.
The spokesman added: “Clearly, that work needs to be completed before the exact funding requirements and arrangements can be agreed, however, as part of that we will consider all options for government or other financial support.
“The chief executive of the council has already confirmed he would be instructing an independent external review to assess the circumstances which led to this significant error in school capacity planning and we expect this to get under way very soon.
“The chief executive has already consulted Audit Scotland on the review approach and arrangements and they have confirmed that, based on the nature and stage of the issue, they would not seek at this point to become directly involved.
“They have confirmed they will consider the report once concluded and any actions the council takes in response. The final review report will be shared with parents and with Audit Scotland once complete. We have continued to keep the Scottish Government updated.”