Dumfries' North West Community Campus: Fault report due in new year

A "root cause" review of issues which forced the closure of a multi-million pound school campus on safety grounds will be published in the new year.

South of Scotland MSP Colin Smyth raised concerns about the amount of time being taken to deliver the study.

The North West Community Campus in Dumfries had to shut just weeks after in opened in August last year.

Education Secretary John Swinney said the report had been finalised and would be published early in 2020.

The Dumfries facility was shut in September 2018 after a number of incidents in which staff and pupils were hurt - including a child being hit by a smart board.

Dumfries and Galloway Council announced almost immediately that it was seeking a review of what had gone wrong.

A report in March this year suggested it would be completed "soon" but it has yet to be published.

The school fully reopened in June when secondary pupils made their return.

Mr Smyth said he had been told the review was complete in August and said he was "unsure" why the process was taking so long.

'Real cause'

He also sought reassurances that the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) report would get to the "real cause of the problem" and not be simply a "whitewash" given the SFT's involvement in the campus project.

Mr Swinney said he would not speculate on the contents of the review before its publication.

However, he said he would expect it to look at the circumstances leading to the "very real issues" at the campus.

"It is safe to say that it is important that the highest-quality work is undertaken on a contractual basis by all contractors - and, where that is not the case, that contractors should be held to account," he added.