Colleges in Scotland need £360m of maintenance work

The Scottish Government needs to come up with a ''clear plan'' to make the country's colleges wind and watertight, after a report showed £360 million needs to be spent on maintenance work in the next five years.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) said that while almost £900 million had been invested in the college estate in the last decade, there is still a maintenance backlog.

To do the minimum work to bring college buildings ''up to an acceptable (wind and water-tight) condition'' and to ensure they stay in this condition for five years would cost around £360 million, if the repairs are done over a five-year period, the SFC said.

Further Education Minister Shirley-Anne Somerville insisted colleges have ''fantastic facilities'' - but said the report also showed there were some where ''upgrading and modernising is required''.

But Labour said there was just #39.4 million allocated for college maintenance in 2018-19 and claimed this showed how further education gets a rotten deal'' from the Scottish Government.

Education spokesman Iain Gray hit out, saying: ''Any government serious about further education would be ensuring that there is a clear plan to make the campuses wind and watertight. Instead the SNP only plans to spend a fraction of what is needed.

Refusing to pay this repair bill is just the latest sorry failure from the government on further education - a failure which sees 140,000 fewer college places since they came to power.

Students deserve to learn in safe, secure and comfortable facilities. The SNP must quickly explain how they are going to give colleges the vital funds they need for these urgent repairs.''

Capital spending totalling £76.7 million has been allocated to colleges for 2018-19, the Government said, a rise of £29.3 million on the previous year.

Ms Somerville said: ''Everyone has the right to an education provided in high quality facilities that are fit for purpose.

We asked for this survey to be conducted to ensure there was a robust and consistent assessment of the condition of buildings right across the college estate to help identify priorities for future investment.

The findings show that Scotland's colleges have many fantastic facilities that are modern and accessible, creating the right environment for people to learn and work in.

As expected, the survey has also identified facilities where upgrading and modernising is required.''

She added: ''It is my expectation that the Scottish Funding Council and the college sector use this report to effectively prioritise the finite capital investment available and ensure resources are targeted to where they are needed most.

The colleges sector received an increase of #29.3 million in their capital budget for 2018-19 from the Scottish Government.''