The Scottish Government says inaccuracies and inconsistencies led to the refusal of the Arbroath ”superschool” project.
Scotland’s head of school infrastructure Jonathan Moore laid out exactly why the proposal to merge Muirfield and Timmergreens primaries into a new £8 million building was rejected.
The council’s application was refused on the grounds that there was no ”auditable process” to explain how school condition rating records had been derived, or why and how changes to the condition scores had been made.
In addition, it was decided that the council’s School Estate Management Plan (SEMP) for Muirfield was ”unclear” and that the way information had been presented could lead to confusion.
A table in the SEMP document rates the school as a C for condition, while calculations from within the same plan show it should actually be rated as a B, making it unsuitable for closure.
In a letter to the council’s director of education, Mr Moore said: ”Ministers are of the view that the consultation has been flawed, due to apparent inaccuracies in how the condition rating has been derived and a lack of supporting evidence to demonstrate how certain decisions about the condition of the school have been arrived at.
”There is a lack of an audit trail on the condition assessment and no documentary evidence to confirm that a visit to inspect mechanical services in March 2009 was undertaken. Ministers are of the view that it is important the consultees are able to rely on information provided to them and when this is challenged, councils must be able to demonstrate clearly how the information has been derived.”
The decision follows a long and dedicated campaign by parents, led by Muirfield Action Group (MAG) spokesman Ewan Smith.
Arbroath SNP councillor Sheena Welsh said she welcomed the decision not to close the schools and raised the issue of what to do with the budget funding.
She said: ”There is still £8 million in the capital plan. Although not legally committed to education by the Alliance, it is still available to be spent on refurbishing the school estate in Arbroath.”
A spokeswoman for Angus Council said: ”Angus Council believes that the proposal to merge Timmergreens and Muirfield primary schools within a new, state-of-the-art school building at Hospitalfield is the best solution to address the declining physical condition of the existing, under-occupied school buildings, and to provide pupils, staff and the local people with facilities fit for a modern learning community.
”A report setting the options now available to the council will be submitted to the full meeting of Angus Council at 11am on Thursday February 9.”