Ex-council leader demands giant new £115m high school in Midlothian paused over 'financial mismanagement'

Councillor Derek Milligan, Labour group leader, said the council needed to “get a grip” on its spending with multi-million pound projects slipping into future years and spiralling costs impacting on those moving forward.

And he said the proposed new Beeslack High School, which has a budget of £115m, should be put on hold until a full picture of the funds needed to bring school buildings up to standard is unveiled.

However, his call has been described by existing council leader Kelly Parry as “baffling”.

She said: “I certainly don’t think Cllr Milligan’s comments will land well with the parents, carers and teachers at Beeslack High School.”

Speaking after a meeting of Midlothian Council, which heard negotiations over the land for the new school at East Bush had still not been completed after a second landowner was identified, Cllr Milligan said it was time to delay the giant project.

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He said: “We had a survey of our schools carried out over a year ago and are still waiting for a comprehensive report detailing what is needed. But early indications are that it would cost under £10m to bring the current Beeslack High School up to standard.

“That begs the question - why we are spending so much on a new school? I think we need to pause the plans until we have a full picture of what funding we need across the county.

“We simply do not have to funds for all the projects put forward already and costs are spiralling. This council needs to get a grip on its capital spending and take a look at what we can afford before going forward.”

Cllr Parry, however, pointed out that Scottish Government funding had also been committed to the new school project.

She said: “It’s absolutely baffling that in times of challenging council finances that any councillor would advocate handing back money to the Scottish Government provided to us to help fund a desperately needed replacement High School.

“It has clearly been some time since Cllr Milligan visited Beeslack High School, one of the oldest high schools in Midlothian.”

The council meeting earlier this week heard there had been “significant slippage” in its capital spend for the year ahead.

Cllr Milligan told the meeting the situation looked like “nothing short of capital mismanagement”.

The council’s legal adviser Kevin Anderson confirmed there had been slippage at Beeslack among other projects, which he said was partly down to inflation, which had led to extended negotiations with contractors. But he said negotiations over the land for the new school were due to be concluded this week.

He said the Beeslack project was one “in a state of redesign due to the excessive values submitted through tenders” for the work.

He said: “We have to make sure we bring these in within budget and the current budget for Beeslack is £115m.

“A pause would also put considerable pressure on the capacity at Lasswade High School, and in both schools would leave the council at risk of breaching pupil capacity. The project will bring both educational and economic benefits to Midlothian.”