West Lothian spent £53k tackling problem of crumbling concrete in schools

dailyrecord.co.uk:

West Lothian Council has already spent £53m tackling crumbling concrete in county schools.Last Tuesday, the council’s Education Executive heard that the cash has covered everything from repair work to primary schools, to providing emergency accommodation for the largest secondary, St Kentigern’s.Councillor Andrew McGuire the chair of the Education Executive has invited Holyrood’s Education Cabinet secretary to meet him at St Kentigern’s because of the need to “urgently identify solutions to ensure this situation can be rectified.”The Blackburn high school, with more than 1,300 pupils, is now facing a partial rebuild after more than a third of the building was closed last year after RAAC planks were discovered.

The cheapest long term option is for demolition of the parts of the building with RAAC panels and new build replacement.The council’s depute chief executive responsible for education, Dr Elaine Cook, told the meeting: “West Lothian Council has taken a proactive approach to dealing with RAAC.

It has gone through a process of identifying RAAC properties since the beginning of 2020.“It was reported to Council Executive in June 2021 that five schools were identified as having issues with RAAC and since the regular updates have been provided.”She gave the council’s Education Executive details of the schools affected and the work being carried out.The schools in West Lothian with RAAC are Balbardie Primary School in Bathgate, Riverside Primary in Livingston, Windyknowe Primary in Bathgate, Knightsridge Primary in Livingston and St Kentigern’s Academy in Blackburn.Outwith the education estate the council has also had to commit around £10m rectifying problems with RAAC plank roofs in community centres including in