Trade unions debate Edinburgh PPP schools at STUC Conference

The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) will push for a review of schools built using private finance, after several unions raised the issue at annual congress.

Scotland’s largest teaching union the EIS put forward an emergency motion calling for an independent inquiry into the PPP/PFI funding model, which saw the Labour Government hand the running of public schools into the hands of consortia made up of banks, construction companies and offshore investment funds. The model kept the spending, expected to run into billions over the lifetime of the deals, off public balance sheets.

The motion was supported by Unison, who said the schemes should be brought into the public sector.

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Seventeen schools in Edinburgh remain closed after the Easter break over concerns about the structural integrity of the privately-built buildings.

Fellow teaching union the NASUWT called for urgent safety checks to be undertaken on all PPP buildings in Scotland.

Recent infrastructure projects under the SNP has also used private finance, including all new schools, albeit under a slightly revised model.

EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan said, "The recent developments concerning PFI built schools in Edinburgh have led to significant disruption for students, staff and parents.

"Whilst the EIS acknowledges the need for immediate interim arrangements to ensure that teaching and learning takes place in safe and secure environments, significant questions have been raised about the use of the PFI / PPP model to procure public sector building works.

"These questions are based on the operational regime around the construction of such works, and not least the ongoing cost to the public purse of PFI/PPP projects, particularly through ongoing maintenance arrangements, at a time of austerity-driven budget restraint.”