City council being ripped off to the tune of £42 MILLION by ‘rotten PFI contracts’

The City of Edinburgh Council is being ripped off to the tune of £42 million as they continue to pay for wretched PFI contracts – eating in to vital council education spending.

Research from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) has found that the amount being forked out by City of Edinburgh Council is 11% of its education resource funding, meaning millions are being wasted on the contracts.

PFI contracts were introduced by the Tories and adopted by Labour during their time at the helm of the Scottish Government.

Gordon Macdonald MSP said: “The rotten PFI contracts were introduced by the Tories but supercharged by the Labour-led Scottish Government and unnecessarily cost councils across Scotland, including Edinburgh.

“It is incredible that the lasting legacy of Labour governments continues to be felt as schools’ budgets are eaten up significantly by these shameful contracts.

“The SNP scrapped PFI contracts, meaning that money can be spent on Scotland’s young people and not on absurdly expensive contracts.

“This demonstrates how we still cannot trust Labour with the public purse in Scotland as we continue to pay for their disastrous decisions in government.”

Net revenue expenditure on education services and schools PFI unitary charges (£m) in 2019/20    
     
 Education Services (£m)PFI unitary charges (£m)PFI unitary charges as a % of education expenditure 
Aberdeen City*174NANA 
Aberdeenshire275135% 
Angus10466% 
Argyll & Bute*99NANA 
City of Edinburgh3794211% 
Clackmannanshire55815% 
Dumfries & Galloway1471510% 
Dundee City136129% 
East Ayrshire128118% 
East Dunbartonshire1281512% 
East Lothian971010% 
East Renfrewshire1201311% 
Falkirk*161138% 
Fife349175% 
Glasgow City5805710% 
Highland2412611% 
Inverclyde802025% 
Midlothian921112% 
Moray85NANA 
Na h-Eileanan Siar42NANA 
North Ayrshire136139% 
North Lanarkshire368247% 
Orkney Islands33NANA 
Perth & Kinross1501711% 
Renfrewshire1671710% 
Scottish Borders11398% 
Shetland Islands43NANA 
South Ayrshire1111110% 
South Lanarkshire3413611% 
Stirling1021515% 
West Dunbartonshire1021212% 
West Lothian189158% 
TOTAL5,3274619%  

Lord Provost opens Ferryfield Hub

Lord Provost Frank Ross cut the ribbon to officially open the new Ferryfield Hub last Friday.

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He was joined by Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership staff and people who stay at Ferryfield House Hospital in Pilton. The ceremony was to celebrate the official opening of the new dementia friendly therapeutic and social space called the Ferryfield Hub. Continue reading Lord Provost opens Ferryfield Hub

PPP school closures: independent inquiry confirmed

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The city council has confirmed that an independent inquiry into school closures will commence after the summer holidays. Continue reading PPP school closures: independent inquiry confirmed

Local schools to stay closed until after summer holidays

Council confirms local schools will be closed for months

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Parents and carers worst fears were realised with the announcement this afternoon that local primary schools Craigroyston, Forthview, Pirniehall and St Davids are to remain closed until after the summer holidays. Rowanfield, too, will stay shut until August. Continue reading Local schools to stay closed until after summer holidays

PPP1 school closures: Faults found at ALL schools

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The city council has confirmed that construction faults have been found at all seventeen buildings built during the first PPP contract. The degree of repairs required varies, but council leader Cllr Andrew Burns has conceded that some schools may be closed ‘longer term’. Continue reading PPP1 school closures: Faults found at ALL schools

Schools latest: Solution for Craigroyston

CRAIGIE goes to CRAIGIE: Craigroyston Primary pupils will temporarily relocate to Craigroyston Community High School Continue reading Schools latest: Solution for Craigroyston

PPP: chickens coming home to roost?

Edinburgh schools closures: now it’s the blame game

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News of the extended closure of 17 Edinburgh buildings built under the controversial Public Private Partnership arrangements has reopened the debate on using private finance schemes to fund public projects. And, with an election looming, the PPP issue is a heaven-sent for political parties: an unmissable opportunity to play the blame game, finger-pointing and point scoring.

The strictly non-partisan Cockburn Association, Edinburgh’s civic trust, has previously expressed disquiet over the quality and design of PPP schools. The Cockburn Association wrote to councillors regarding school provision and building quality back in January 2012:

“… we would encourage the Planning Department to work with their colleagues in Education to realize a better outcome both for the quality of teaching space and design of the buildings following a proper appraisal of the capacity for the physical expansion of existing primary schools.

“Perhaps a new primary school built in the north of Edinburgh on the proposed budget of £2200 per sq m would be a far more wise option? The City has a fine history of school building by the Edinburgh School Board from 1870 and their quality is a standard we should return to in the 21st century.”

Teachers’ trade union the EIS is calling for an urgent review of all PPP/PFI deals in light of the schools closures.

General Secretary Larry Flanagan said: “The EIS welcomes that the safety of pupils and staff is being treated as a priority, while recognising that these short-notice closures will be highly inconvenient for pupils and parents.

“However, we must also question how such significant defaults could escape normal building control scrutiny and we believe it is now necessary for an urgent review of all PPP/PFI contracts, including the terms of the private maintenance contracts which are often both expensive and extremely restrictive.”

With the 5 May Holyrood elections just around the corner, opponents of both Conservatives (who introduced PPP) and Labour (who adopted it) have wasted little time in apportioning blame for the ‘fiasco’. Who would have thought that the PPP debate would raise it’s head again and become an election battleground?

Over the weekend both the Greens and RISE damned their political opponents and today it’s the turn of the SNP to fire a broadside – and the Lib Dems are in their sights, too.

The SNP candidate in Edinburgh Western Tony Giugliano said: ” “This is a critical time for many pupils, as they enter exam period, and everything must be done to minimise disruption and find alternative safe studying environments. I would also encourage Edinburgh Council to do more to support parents with childcare arrangements.

“It’s clear that we need an immediate inquiry into the construction and safety of these schools. We know that the previous Lib Dem – Labour government at Holyrood bullied councils into rolling out PFI – and the result is exactly what we all feared: unsafe, substandard schools.

“PFI has been a disaster for the city of Edinburgh, with taxpayers contributing £40 million each year in repayments for buildings that are crumbling after only 10 years. Not to mention the debt legacy that the construction of PFI hospitals has had on the NHS. It’s utterly unacceptable and parents and pupils deserve better.

“Edinburgh taxpayers can no longer afford to keep paying for substandard buildings and the City Council should re-consider the future of these contracts.”

Meanwhile, efforts by council officials to resolve the problems go on. City council chief exective Andrew Kerr assured anxious parents: ““Officers are continuing to work on contingency arrangements and we will provide regular updates to parents and carers as and when further information becomes available.”

Parents, however, are growing increasingly angry. Thousands of familes are affected by the school closures and they want answers – now.

We’ll keep you posted.

Closed schools update: Scottish government offers ‘full support’

“Public confidence needs rebuilt as well as school walls: and fast” – Green Candidate Andy Wightman

RHS

The Scottish Government’s resiliency committee has met to discuss the emergency closure of seventeen PPP schools across Edinburgh – but The Scottish Greens say the ‘fiasco’ highlights the need to expose private finance failures. Continue reading Closed schools update: Scottish government offers ‘full support’