Ayrshire Council's move to reassure parents after Edinburgh school closures
North and East Ayrshire Council's have moved to reassure parents after 17 Edinburgh schools were shut down because of safety concerns.
North, South and East Ayrshire Council's have moved to reassure parents after 17 Edinburgh schools were shut down because of safety concerns.
The closures were prompted over fears all schools built under the same private finance contract could pose a safety risk and politicians are calling for a review of all similar deals.
Edinburgh City Council announced on Friday that 17 schools and a neighbourhood centre would be shutting because Edinburgh Schools Partnership (ESP), which operates the schools, could not provide safety assurances.
The problems were first discovered in January when a wall blew off Oxgangs Primary in high winds and a subsequent investigation found serious structural issues with the building's walls.
The council closed the school and three others within a week, but on Friday, contractors carrying out remedial works at Oxgangs found new problems, raising concerns all 17 schools built under the same PFI contract were at risk and resulting in city-wide closures from Monday onwards.
A spokesman for East Ayrshire Council said: "We take the safety of our pupils, teaching staff, parents and the local communities who use our school buildings, extremely seriously.
"In 2014, we undertook a series of school inspections following the tragic collapse of a freestanding wall in an Edinburgh school. No defects or concerns were discovered.
"There are four PPP build sites in our local area.
"None of these were built by the construction firm which built the affected schools in Edinburgh.
"Our school buildings are inspected regularly, but, mindful of the problems being experienced in Edinburgh, we are appointing an independent firm of engineers to carry out additional exploratory work.
"These will prioritise our PPP schools and will then be widened to include schools built since 2005, timed to minimise any disruption to the curriculum.
"If any building work or repairs are considered necessary as a result of the new independent inspections, we will make sure parents, staff and pupils are kept fully informed of developments and arrangements."
A spokesman for North Ayrshire Council said: "We can reassure parents that they should have no cause for concern when their children return to school following the Easter break and that we have no plans to close any of our schools.
"The safety of our children and staff is paramount at all times and that is why we conduct regular inspections within our schools estate.
“To further reassure parents, we have this morning asked the contractors to ensure that immediate inspections are carried out at the four schools in North Ayrshire built utilising PPP/PFI funding to confirm that they are not affected by the same issue experienced in Edinburgh schools, even though these schools involved a different construction firm.
“We expect to receive this information as soon as possible and certainly before schools are due to return next week.”
A South Ayrshire Council spokesperson said "I can confirm that two secondary schools (Belmont and Prestwick Academies), three primaries (Alloway, Barassie and Monkton) and a school annexe for Kyle Academy in Ayr were built and opened between 2007-2009 as part of our PPP programme with Education 4 Ayrshire (E4A).
"At our request, E4A has been carrying out inspections of our PPP schools, which will now be escalated - following the closure of the Edinburgh PPP schools - to include additional survey works. These will be completed this week while the schools remain closed for the Easter holidays and we don’t anticipate any impact on the schools reopening on 18 April."
Politicians are now calling for a review of similar contracts across the country.
The ESP has apologised to the council's chief executive.