West Scotland Labour MSP Neil Bibby has raised the Dargavel Primary School fiasco at First Minister’s Questions, demanding answers from Humza Yousaf on what the Scottish Government intends to do about the debacle in order that no child in Renfrewshire suffers as a consequence.
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Mr Bibby asked Mr Yousaf:
“The last time I raised this the expected cost to fix the mess was £20 million. It is now an incredible £75 million. Parents are looking for the Scottish Government to help resolve this situation.
Does the First Minister agree that no child in Renfrewshire should have to pay for the council’s incompetence and lose out because of the resulting shortfall in school budgets?
And if so, what will the Scottish Government do to ensure there is accountability for this failure and that the appropriate primary and secondary provision is in place as a matter of urgency?”
Mr Yousaf replied:
“Well, I will ask the current Education Secretary to make sure that we will discuss and have those discussions with Renfrewshire, where we can. I know the previous Education Secretary was involved in discussions.
These are, of course, local authority matters. Now, what Neil Bibby is asking me to do is take money out of the current school building programme and of course redistribute that to another project. Now, he would have to say what school we would take that away from because, of course, every single penny is accounted for in terms of the current budget.
So, yes, we will continue to have discussions with Renfrewshire Council, as we have done already, but I will ask the Education Secretary to re-touch base with Renfrewshire Council because ultimately I agree with Neil Bibby’s premise that no child should feel that their education or their educational attainment suffers as a result of any decision that’s made, be that by national government or indeed by local government.”
Speaking afterwards, Neil Bibby said:
“I am pleased that the First Minister agrees with me that no child in Renfrewshire should lose out because of the Council’s incompetence. This fiasco is set to cost at least £75 million. The Council must now approach the Scottish Government and develop a plan with them to fix this mess as a matter of urgency and ensure Renfrewshire taxpayers are not left to foot this huge bill alone.”