Forthview Primary pupils will return to school next week – but in classroooms scattered across Edinburgh. Dealing with the temporary closure of seventeen schools has been a logistical nightmare for council officials and it’s proved impossible to keep the Forthview kids together. Continue reading Forthview: going forth across the city
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
Scottish Hazards Centre has issued a statement on the current situation facing some of Edinburgh’s schools:
It should be a given that when we send our kids to school, they’re safe in their surroundings and that those who are teaching them and working with them are safe at their work. The closure of so many schools on safety grounds has quite rightly been described as a “national scandal”. There are many questions that need to be answered as soon as possible, including:
Why were issues with the build only brought to light by a wall collapse (which thankfully took place through the night and not while school was in session)?
and What level of inspections took place in our schools after the death of young Keane Wallis-Bennett at Liberton High School?
We must continue to make clear that arrangements – whether PPP or similar – which have the client and the contractor effectively as one entity, with no external scrutiny or supervision of build safety but a profit incentive to cost-cut, which can only lead to corners being cut and hazards being increased, are unacceptable. And we must repeat our calls for more proactive preventative inspections to take place in the vast swathes of workplaces (and public places!) that have been classified as “low risk” and taken out of the inspection regime.
Scottish Hazards Centre has grown out of the successful Scottish Hazards Campaign (http://www.scottishhazards.
We are keen to target those individuals who, perhaps, have less access to health and safety support than others. We have identified home care staff (who usually work in people’s homes) as being particularly at risk. Both Westminster and Holyrood are keen to reduce the number of hospital admissions and people moving to care homes so Councils are under pressure to provide support at home. However, due to the cutbacks there is less specialist support (eg physio at home, district nurses) and increasingly, the burden is being borne by home care workers who often have little training in the care they need to give (continence care, dementia support, moving and handling equipment) and are often paid the minimum wage or less.
If you have concerns about safety at your child’s school or at any other place of work, and you would like free, confidential, advice and support, call our Scottish Hazards Centre today on 0800 0015 on 0800 0015 FREE022.
Practical exams due to be held this week have been postponed due to the ongoing Edinburgh PPP1 schools closures. Continue reading Closed High Schools: Practical exams postponed
Dear Editor,
Given the recent incidents with Schools in Edinburgh that have been closed down due to the substandard quality offered by the Edinburgh Schools Partnership, I would like to see local Labour candidate for the Scottish Parliamentary Elections, and current Edinburgh Councillor Lesley Hinds explain why this situation arrived.
Considering PPP ( public-private partnership) was part of the Labour party’s policy for a long period time, and while this was introduced when labour run Edinburgh council, the Scottish Executive and Westminster Goverment, I would be interested to hear what the Councillor would have to say on this matter.
Alba Reilly (by email)
UNISON’s Edinburgh branch is warning that cuts to the council’s Private Rented Service Team could threaten safer housing for private tenants and lose the council hundreds of thousands in income. Continue reading Union concerns for tenants’ safety as service faces cuts
