“A matter of luck a child didn’t die”

The School Closures Report was commissioned by Chief Executive Andrew Kerr last summer after the collapse of a wall at Oxgangs Primary School and subsequent closure of 17 schools.

Nine tonnes of masonry fell at Oxgangs Primary School during a storm in January last year. Ten primaries, five secondaries and two additional support needs schools were then shut because of concerns over the standard of construction in the city. Around 7,600 pupils were affected by the closures.

The inquiry was led by respected construction and procurement industry expert, Professor John Cole CBE, who present his report at a special City of Edinburgh Council meeting following the budget meeting yesterday.

The inquiry had nine remits, which included:

• reasons for the wall collapse;

• use of private finance for building projects;

• the Council’s role in providing quality assurance of the buildings;

• contractual arrangements between the Council and Edinburgh Schools Partnership (ESP) who manage and run the schools on the Council’s behalf; and

• any recommendations for the Council, other bodies and the wider industry.

Professor Cole interviewed a wide range of people for the report including: representatives from those who built the schools, ESP, architects, structural engineers, parents, teachers and former and current Council staff from various departments. He also took evidence from professionals and experts in the procurement and construction industries.

Some of the key findings from the report (see below), which runs to over 250 pages, include:

• the collapse of the wall was due to poor construction and inadequate supervision;

• insufficient independent quality assurance and poor record keeping by the Council and ESP;

• ineffective quality assurance measures within the construction industry;

• the Council made the correct decision to close the 17 schools;

• the alternative education arrangements put in place for over 8,300 pupils was a ‘remarkable feat’;

• the issues identified in Edinburgh are likely to be more widespread

The report contains many recommendations for the Council and other bodies, both public and private, as well as the construction industry.  These relate to areas such as: procurement, construction, training and recruitment, the role of the building standards and independent certifiers and the sharing of information.

The Chief Executive will now draw up an action plan specific to the Council recommendations so that they are all addressed individually.

Andrew Kerr said: “Professor Cole commands respect in both construction and procurement fields which has been borne out in the thoroughness and quality of his independent investigation and the report before Council today.

“We set out clear and thorough terms of reference so he could identify the reasons for the wall collapse at Oxgangs and the subsequent building faults that forced us to close the 17 schools.

“The report pulls no punches and makes clear what went wrong, the reasons for it and where responsibility lay.  Clearly there are lessons for the Council and I will now be drawing up an action plan to take our recommendations forward to ensure everyone can have confidence in the safety of all of our buildings.

“The Council, our public and private sector partners both in Scotland and across the United Kingdom, need to take on board the issues raised and address the concerns highlighted in the report as they have far-reaching implications for the construction industry.”

He added: “As always, our overriding priority was the safety of the pupils and staff and I am pleased that Professor Cole recognises that our decision to close the schools was well founded and that he acknowledged the scale of the alternative educational arrangements required – and ultimately delivered.

“I want to thank parents once again for their patience last year and the outstanding efforts of teachers and other Council staff who pulled out all the stops to ensure our children’s education could continue.

“I would also like to thank Professor Cole and his team for their hard work on this important inquiry.  We must ensure that the highest possible standards are adhered to when it comes to future construction projects and ensure that nothing like this can happen again.”

The city’s Green councillors say the independent inquiry into privately-financed schools in Edinburgh is a shocking wake-up call for future building and management of schools and other properties.

Green Education spokesperson Cllr Melanie Main said of the failings exposed by the Cole Inquiry: “It is only by sheer luck that the 9 tonnes of masonry falling at Oxgangs primary school in January 2016 did not result in the death or severe injury of school children.

“The inquiry report lays bare a catalogue of failings, starting with poor construction but followed by inadequate site supervision, woeful sign-off processes and barely-there contract management.

“There are huge lessons to be learned by the council, by the construction industry and by the Scottish Government so that children and young people can be guaranteed schools which are safe.

“But behind all of that is an even more fundamental question. It is the sheer complexity of PPP contracts, PFI, Scottish Futures Trust, whatever we label them, which heightens the risk of all of these failings. I believe it is time to cut the complexity, cut the layers of buck-passing responsibility and put public bodies directly in charge of public buildings.”

The Council has already started a full survey of all buildings across the estate which will be complete by the end of the year.  This will be followed by a five year rolling programme of regular follow up surveys.

Issues raised in the report regarding ‘fire stopping’ in the 17 schools are being rectified and the Council has employed a fire safety expert to ensure all buildings remain safe for occupancy.