West Lothian Council 'can't afford' school's £35m Raac rebuild

West Lothian Council says it cannot afford the £35m cost of rebuilding its largest secondary school following the discovery of crumbling concrete there.

The local authority wants the Scottish government to meet a £15m shortfall on the work at St Kentigern's Academy in Blackburn.

Otherwise, it says local services will face further cuts.

The local authority says it is "inconceivable" that it is the only Scottish council facing such a bill.

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Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (Raac) was used in building projects across the UK between the mid-1950s and the early 1980s.

It is a lightweight form of concrete which has a lifespan of around 30 years. After this time it is prone to crumbling and failure, especially if it gets wet.

Earlier this year the Scottish government confirmed that 16 local authority areas had discovered Raac in their schools.

Ministers say work is under way to understand the scale of Raac problems across the public sector estate with the aim of reaching a "considered solution".

More than half of the site at St Kentigern's - including the gymnasium, assembly hall and a number of practical classrooms - has been closed since the spring after surveys revealed that deteriorating Raac roof panels posed an unacceptable safety risk.

Built in 1973, more than 1,100 pupils currently attend the school.

Staff describe the situation as "challenging" and have praised the resilience of the children who are being taught in temporary classrooms and are bussed elsewhere for PE and other subjects.

Sally Cameron, an education officer based at St Kentigern's, said staff and pupils were having to move from one building to another, sometimes with very little notice.

Education officer Sally Cameron says the school has had many challenges

"Staff have had to remain very adaptable and pupils have had to be very resilient to accept these changes and ensure that their learning and teaching can continue to a really high standard. It hasn't been easy," she said.

"We have had many challenges and sometimes we've had very little notice about what's about to happen."

Ms Cameron said exam preparation had been particularly difficult.

"The pupils are still being taught by their own teachers so that is a real strength. However we're on a construction site so we're having to think carefully about where they sit their prelim exams so that they're not interrupted.

"We're having to plan very carefully for next year's SQA exams and we're having to conduct those off site," she added.

'Colossal' project

West Lothian Council said it had been "pro-active" in dealing with an issue which has generated a £70m repair bill across its school estate.

The work to demolish and rebuild a large section of St Kentigern's - the only secondary on a list of five affected schools - is expected to take more than two years.

Andrew Maguire, the executive councillor for education, describes it as a "colossal" project.

"The council can't afford it. If the Scottish government doesn't step in and offer us additional financial resource then the reality is that we'll need to make cuts to other services to be able to afford to do it," he said.

"The situation at St Kent's cannot be left unresolved, so depressingly we'll be looking at yet further cuts to council services.

"Nothing will be off the table given the extreme financial pressures the council is under."

Councillor Maguire believes it is "inconceivable" that other Scottish councils will not face a similar financial burden when it comes to dealing with Raac.

Work could continue at St Kentigern's for another two years

The BBC has learned that Argyll and Bute Council is spending £3m to replace the Raac roof at John Logie Baird Primary in Helensburgh. Highland Council says repairs to Charleston and Nairn Secondary Schools will cost at least £500,000.

Moray Council has budgeted £624,000 for repairs to Forres Academy, while a committee at Perth and Kinross has been told the price of replacing the Raac roof at Perth Grammar will be £500,000.

The remaining councils either have not published costs or have not carried out any significant repair work.

Peter Drummond, a member of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) and part of a Scottish government working group on Raac, says "very many" public sector bodies in Scotland are exactly the same position as West Lothian.

"All hands are on deck surveying these buildings but because it's tricky, because it's involved, because it's disruptive to building users, it's not something that can be done overnight," he said.

"It needs skilled structural engineers to undertake the process assisted by surveyors and we've only got a limited number of such skilled professionals in the UK today."

The Scottish government says it takes the issue of Raac "very seriously" and will work on a "considered solution" once reviews of the public sector estate are complete.

In response to West Lothian Council's request for money to fund the rebuild of St Kentigern's Academy, a spokesperson said the Scottish government has increased the resources available to local government this financial year by more than £793m.