Angus’s education committee chief has slammed any speculation over school closures after a leading campaigner suggested the timing of a major investment report might have been set to dodge bad news at the ballot box.
Children and learning committee convener Sheena Welsh blasted a comment by Arbroath independent Ewan Smith that the timing for the release of a 30-year Angus education masterplan may have been designed to fall after council elections and avoid any political backlash.
The document will also incorporate a medium-term strategy covering a broad range of areas including the council’s key aspirations for schools replacement, whether they should always be community resources and the question enabling ready expansion through the school design process.
Mr Smith elected an Arbroath councillor after playing a leading role in a campaign centred on the failed bid to build an £8 million town super-primary questioned the timing of the major document’s publication.
The former education vice-convener and ex-member of the SNP administration said: “This is a sensible decision to have a strategic long-term plan for the school estate. But autumn 2017 seems to be just after the (local) elections.
“Perhaps it is just me being a little cynical but maybe that could be that it will have some news that will not be popular with the electorate.”
Mrs Welsh responded: “There is nothing sinister about it. It coincides with the amount of work that has to be done.”
She also baulked at the prospect of any Angus school being under threat.
“There will be no closures,” she firmly told the committee.
Education chiefs have said that the strategy will be developed to identify future demands on a school estate which currently extends to 53 primaries and eight secondaries across the district, including new community campuses currently under construction in Brechin and Forfar.
A September 2014 census revealed that overall occupancy rates across Angus schools was just under 74%. However, officials say some schools are very under-occupied whilst others are close to or already over capacity.
The report to councillors added: “The strategy will be developed to identify future demands on the school estate.
“It will take account of demographics, the impact of policy developments, e.g. 600 hours pre-school education, and planned housing developments.
“We will also take account of the scarcity of resources available and how we best use them to maximise attainment and achievement, and the experience of children and young people in our schools.”