Schools to close (eventually)
Despite claims that any delay in taking the decisions was costing the Comhairle £10,000 (or £70,000 per month) the closures have been approved, only delayed by three years.
This - apparently - was met with a round of applause from the parents.
Were they applauding the decision to close?
Or were they applauding the decision to delay closure until after their children had left the affected schools?
The closures are either right or wrong, and a decision should have been made with immediate effect. The choice by Councillors to delay the implementation is a sop to appear to avoid taking a difficult decision; and a very expensive one at that. (Para updated for clarity)
The Council is tied into a very expensive, and wholly inappropriate, PFI scheme which both Alasdair Morrison and Alasdair Allan fell over each other to promise to deliver, regardless of the impact it is going to have on education provision in the islands.
So where does this leave us?
Over the next few years money that should have been spent on other services will be diverted to retaining crumbling schools, and teachers whose employment has been extended by three years.
Thereafter, the Council will find itself having to bridge a bigger and bigger financial gap to afford to pay for the new schools (I forecast the gap will at least double from today's estimate) which will have a further adverse impact on services, and we will still see moves to undermine the whole scheme with appeals to the Government not to close the schools in Daliburgh, Paible, Lionel and Shawbost. Which, if successful will result in yet more expense, time and effort in trying to bring this to a conclusion.
We were promised that the Scottish Futures Trust would replace all of this PFI nonsense, meaning cheaper and easier borrowings for the Council, but that scheme ran into fundamental problems in its conception - problems long pointed out by third parties.
The concept of borrowing cheaply from Government to deliver essential services has been long established, and long supported by the SNP as the way forward for public services. Until now.
The building of a new Secondary in Shetland has faced many of the same funding (and political) problems that we have, but they are borrowing the money from their Oil Fund, so that the 'profit' is recirculated back into the economy. We are forced to pay higher charges to bankers - but will we get a better deal at the end of the day? No, we will get a worse one.
I expect to be commenting on more shenanigans on this issue over the coming months and years.
(This whole decision has been even more traumatic than the windfarms; something I never thought possible)
This - apparently - was met with a round of applause from the parents.
Were they applauding the decision to close?
Or were they applauding the decision to delay closure until after their children had left the affected schools?
The closures are either right or wrong, and a decision should have been made with immediate effect. The choice by Councillors to delay the implementation is a sop to appear to avoid taking a difficult decision; and a very expensive one at that. (Para updated for clarity)
The Council is tied into a very expensive, and wholly inappropriate, PFI scheme which both Alasdair Morrison and Alasdair Allan fell over each other to promise to deliver, regardless of the impact it is going to have on education provision in the islands.
So where does this leave us?
Over the next few years money that should have been spent on other services will be diverted to retaining crumbling schools, and teachers whose employment has been extended by three years.
Thereafter, the Council will find itself having to bridge a bigger and bigger financial gap to afford to pay for the new schools (I forecast the gap will at least double from today's estimate) which will have a further adverse impact on services, and we will still see moves to undermine the whole scheme with appeals to the Government not to close the schools in Daliburgh, Paible, Lionel and Shawbost. Which, if successful will result in yet more expense, time and effort in trying to bring this to a conclusion.
We were promised that the Scottish Futures Trust would replace all of this PFI nonsense, meaning cheaper and easier borrowings for the Council, but that scheme ran into fundamental problems in its conception - problems long pointed out by third parties.
The concept of borrowing cheaply from Government to deliver essential services has been long established, and long supported by the SNP as the way forward for public services. Until now.
The building of a new Secondary in Shetland has faced many of the same funding (and political) problems that we have, but they are borrowing the money from their Oil Fund, so that the 'profit' is recirculated back into the economy. We are forced to pay higher charges to bankers - but will we get a better deal at the end of the day? No, we will get a worse one.
I expect to be commenting on more shenanigans on this issue over the coming months and years.
(This whole decision has been even more traumatic than the windfarms; something I never thought possible)
10 comments:
Angus, very sorry, but you're not making sense in this post. The closures are either right or wrong - aye, sure as heck they are. Can you make up your mind please?
The parents were applauding, not for the reasons you state, but from a feeling of relief that they still have the oppurtunity to fight on to save their schools.
@9.37 - I think Angus's position is pretty clear on schools but his point is obviously that the comhairle's continuing inability to make a decision one way or the other (on SO many issues) is worse than either option, leaving us with the "disbenefits" of both, a lot of money down the drain and endless revisiting of the subject for years to come.
"The Council is tied into a very expensive, and wholly inappropriate, PFI scheme which both Alasdair Morrison and Alasdair Allan fell over each other to promise to deliver, regardless of the impact it is going to have on education provision in the islands."
Once more prove your statements. Where are the promises that they would personally deliver the schools?
Angus - did you write that blog or was it one of your 3 Stooges?
Alasdair Morrison promising Labour's commitment - and the SNP promising(?) a Scottish Futures Trust to deliver it.
As I recall Mr Allan was furious at the suggestion that the SNP would cancel the PPP and issued a press release saying so, but the Gazette archive is down at the moment so I can't find it.
I can assure you that no Westside or Ness parents were applauding the council's decision to wait 3 years. Regardless of whether there is a new Nicolson or not we want to retain sec education on the Westside, and yes, we will be appealing to the Scottish Gov.
The fact that the whole country was tied into PFI arrangments when the SNP government was elected is not due to the current MSP!! He may have said that the funding would not be withdrawn for schools already earmarked for it if the SNP won the election but that is hardly a ringing endorsement on PFI!!
Morrison on the other hand was just backing HIS government's policy. To suggest that the SNP and Alasdair Allan should have cancelled all PFI funding commitments is ludicrous and you both (Angus and his anti-MSP clone Lazy Chicken) know it.
Very low indeed as usual.
Do you think we are all stupid or something?
You all fail to see the crux of the decision. In three years time, there will be a new council and new decision makers. Our elected have just made the next three years until their re-election or retirement as easy as possible for themselves and have delayed the difficult decisions to their successors.
All these comments fail to understand the inertia that drives (?) the Comhairle's top officer team.
None of the current crop have ever distinguished themselves by achieving anything. They love the glory of procedure and the status quo far too much.
And you are expecting them to deliver a multi-million pound PFI hybrid capital programme? Hello.......
Post a Comment