Councillors have demanded answers over how a Perth school building project has ended up vastly over budget.
Plans to create a new sports hall at Perth High School could now cost up to £3.95 million the original estimate was £2.7m.
Although the increase has been covered by a £2.2m underspend on the Crieff primary school upgrade, questions have been asked about how the budgets were calculated.
During Wednesday’s meeting of Perth and Kinross Council’s strategic policy and resources committee, Councillor Willie Wilson hit out at the overspend.
“There is no detail about why we have this situation,” he said. “It indicates to me that there is something in the system that needs to be examined.
“My suggestion is that we reluctantly accept the recommendation made, but ask officers to prepare a detailed report on the reason for the underspend in Crieff and the overspend at Perth High.
“We should also ask about the resilience measures that can be considered by this committee to make sure our process for estimating is more robust.”
These views were echoed by Councillor Dave Doogan, who said any problem in the system should be looked at.
Executive director of education and children’s services John Fyffe revealed why the Crieff project came in cheaper than expected.
He told members that the local authority changed the structure of the school from a three-stream system to a two-stream system.
He said: “There are occasions where we upgrade a school and the costs go up. With the best will in the world, we are trying to move the money around the school estate.”
Mr Fyffe also admitted he was a “bit concerned” by the rocketing costs at Perth High School and was desperately trying to claw back more money by getting property officers to identify where savings can be made.
Councillors were advised that, according to sportscotland recommendations, the school requires a second sports hall.
An amendment was put forward by Mr Wilson to get a detailed report on the issue, but the majority of councillors chose to approve the report as it stood.
Strategic police and resources convener Ian Miller said the matter had already been discussed fully at the school estate sub-committee. He continued: “The gist of this is that we have overestimated the cost of providing the new primary school in Crieff by £2.2m and have underestimated the cost of providing community sports facilities at Perth High School by around £1.2m.”
He said councillors were being asked to agree to use the savings from Crieff to cover the shortfall at Perth High.
“The remaining £1m will provide inflationary cover for the new secondary school project at Berthan Park,” he continued.
“No inflation cover is currently provided for that in that estimated cost and, given the extended timescale of the project, I think it would be prudent for us to do so.
“We may or may not need it, but let’s allocate it there just in case.”