West Lothian school to reopen months ahead of schedule after closure due to RAAC
St Kentigern's Academy in Blackburn is set to open its new wing months ahead of schedule after a £50m rebuild.
More than 60% of the school - one of the largest in West Lothian- had to be demolished because of RAAC roofing panels.
While councillors welcomed the fact that school will be completed by March they voiced disappointment that the Scottish Government has yet to respond to pleas for £15m to help meet the costs.
READ MORE: Calls for delayed West Lothian train station to be funded by Scottish Government
The Executive heard that the council has budget a loan could face paying an extra £15m interest on that sum.
A report to the executive said: 'Discussions remain ongoing with the Scottish Government around funding support to deliver the works required at St Kentigern's Academy. To date, no funding support has been confirmed.'
Depute Chief Executive for Education Dr Elaine Cook told the meeting: 'For the first year in a number of years, we will be able to have all our SQA exams within the school site."
Councillor Sally Pattle, Lib Dem, said: 'I really wanted to say a massive thank you from the outset, on behalf of councillors. Officers have kept us fully informed. They grasped the nettle in dealing with this situation.'
"Fingers crossed we get some money from the Scottish Government."
Depute SNP group leader Pauline Stafford echoed Councillor Pattle's thanks to officers and added ' A big thanks go to staff and students who have borne this really admirably. It has been a lot of upheaval.'
Countering complaints that the Scottish Government had not responded to the council's plea for £15m costs Councillor Stafford said the council would be a better state if it had not had to pay £18m for PFI projects introduced by Labour.
Conservative group leader, Damian Doran-Timson described that as "defending the indefensible" and criticised millions of pounds ' wasted by the Scottish Government'.
He added: 'The issue here is the Scottish Government not supporting the council. Shame on the Scottish Government for not stepping in.'
Labour councillor Tom Conn said: 'I'd like to thank officers for dealing with RAAC throughout all our schools estate. Not one penny has come from the Scottish Government to support this council. There's been criticism of the PFI which we are still paying off but this is what we are going to have to do if we don't get this support- paying off on the never never.'
A Scottish Government spokesperson defended its record on funding schools, pointing to almost £24m of funding through the Schools for the Future Programme, spent on building or extending schools in the county and also financial support given through the Learning Estate Investment Programme.
The spokesperson added: 'The Scottish Government has been in regular contact with each local authority where RAAC has been identified in schools.
'The Education Secretary met with West Lothian Council and visited St Kentigern's Academy, and was reassured on progress made by the council in dealing with RAAC identified in the school.
'National guidance has been available from the Institute of Structural Engineers to local authorities since March 2022. That guidance remains good practice for councils to adhere to and uses a risk-based approach to manage RAAC.'
After the meeting Andrew McGuire the executive councillor for Education said: 'It's great to hear how much progress has been made in re-building a significant part of St. Kentigern's Academy in Blackburn.
'St Kentigern's is a large secondary school that provides education to many young people from towns and villages in the west of West Lothian.
'We can now look forward to the new building at St Kentigern's being opened in 2026, which will deliver huge benefits for pupils and staff.
'Thanks to everyone at the school and those involved in the project for their hard work to ensure a major construction project can be delivered quickly with minimal impact on education.'
The new building will feature a reception area, spacious canteen and dining area, a four-court Games Hall, Dance Studio, Fitness Suite and a changing area. Additional facilities will include a performance area, a range of learning spaces, a café and nurture rooms, all designed to enhance the learning environment for all of the young people who attend the school.
The work has been completed while the school is operational, with every effort made to keep disruption to a minimum for a project of this scale. A temporary "Learning Village" has been put in place to support learning, with some PE lessons and SQA exams the only activities that required additional space off-site.
Sign up to Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Glasgow Times
2 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Nicola Sturgeon hints she could debate JK Rowling over trans rights controversy
Rowling has been a high-profile opponent of the gender reforms Ms Sturgeon sought to introduce, famously wearing a T-shirt branding the former first minister a 'destroyer of women's rights'. She was first minister when the Scottish Government introduced legislation – which was eventually blocked by Westminster – which would have given transgender people the right to self-identify into their preferred gender. Despite the furious row that erupted over the controversial policy – which critics claimed would allow biological men to access women-only spaces – Ms Sturgeon declared she would 'always stand up for rights, for equality, for minority rights'. She said she believes 'forces on the far right' have sought to 'weaponise' the issue to seek to 'push back on rights more generally, whether those are gay rights, minority rights, women's rights actually'. Ms Sturgeon spoke out on the issue as she appeared on BBC Breakfast as her memoir, titled Frankly, was published. She accepted there are 'many, many people' who disagreed with her on the issue of gender reforms, adding 'probably the majority' of her opponents 'come from a genuine place'. But Ms Sturgeon said: 'There are also people – and I don't know how anybody can deny this – forces on the far right who have weaponised this issue, who want to use the trans issue to push back on rights more generally, whether those are gay rights, minority rights, women's rights actually.' She told how she had come in for 'probably the most horrific abuse on this issue' than on any other topic, with the former first minister adding some of the abuse had been 'deeply misogynistic'. She added: 'There's some people in this debate who definitely seem to spend a lot more time thinking about me than I spend thinking about them. Thank you for your many kind offers, of which there were a considerable amount. Watch my website for my review of 'Frankly', the memoir of Scotland's (checks notes) most persecuted, misunderstood, self-critical, open-to-debate, feminist-to-her-fingertips ex-First Minister. — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 12, 2025 'But I will always stand up for rights, for equality, for minority rights. 'There have been many times in my political career when I would have made my own life easier by staying silent on some things. 'I don't want to be that person, I want to stand up for things I believe in.' Asked if she would debate Rowling, Ms Sturgeon said: 'I will debate with many people, but I don't think JK Rowling would be willing to do that. 'But who knows, maybe she would.' She added: 'One of the things my critics cannot say about me is I don't debate with people – I have probably done more debates than any other leader in the UK, I will debate with anybody.' Rowling, meanwhile, said on X – formerly known as Twitter – that she would review Frankly on her website, describing the book as being 'the memoir of Scotland's (checks notes) most persecuted, misunderstood, self-critical, open-to-debate, feminist-to-her-fingertips ex-first minister'.
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
'Lives at risk' as ministers spend just 11% of £97m Scots safety fund
There are concerns that that is no change from an assessment by the Scottish Parliament's local government, housing and planning committee from February, last year which found that only two of 105 being assessed in Scotland at that point for cladding remediation have had any work carried out. A total of 72 people lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017. Its cladding is believed to have contributed to the rapid spread of the blaze. The Scottish government set up a cladding remediation programme following the disaster, but it has come under fire for failing to act quickly enough. A block of flats in Aberdeen is the first in Scotland to have dangerous cladding removed last year (Image: Michael Tait Communications Ltd) It has emerged that an April analysis on spending from the Scottish Government shows just £10.823m out of the £97.1m received from Westminster via Barnett consequentials five years ago has been spent to deal with potentially flammable cladding on buildings And the financial commitment has slumped from £6.752m in 2023/24 to £2.243m in 2024/25. Scottish Government analysis shows that around one in nine residential buildings over 11m (36ft) tall may require work to on their external wall systems in the wake of Grenfell. READ MORE: Why is the Grenfell Tower blaze tragedy a disaster for Scotland? 'Outrageous': Row over ScotGov's 'undemocratic' consultation over rent rises Why can't ScotGov end the nation's housing emergency? 'Appalling': Hundreds of Scots evicted from council homes despite ScotGov ban It is now estimated that between 1,260 and 1,450 of the residential buildings in Scotland which are 11 metres or over may require repairs to external wall systems that over life-safety fire risks. So far, as of the end of June three Single Building Assessments (SBAs) resulted in work being required - with just two started. In England as of June of the 5,190 buildings being monitored for unsafe cladding, 2,490 (48%) have started or completed remediation works, of which 1,767 (34%) have been completed. Some 15 SBAs were underway or completed as of the end of June, with 14 funded by the Scottish Government and one by a developer. There are also a further 600 expressions of interest (EoIs) in what is described as a Single Open Call process which allows property owners to apply for government funding to have their properties assessed using SBAs. Nearly 200 of those were from Scottish councils. The Scottish Government says that at the end of end of July, 258 initial grant offers have been made to building owners and residents to take forward an SBA. Scottish Labour's housing spokesman Mark Griffin said: 'These figures lay bare the SNP's reckless inaction on cladding. Mark Griffin said ministers have been sitting on the fund"Ministers have been sitting on millions of pounds of cladding funding, but progress has been dangerously slow. 'The SNP must show the urgency needed, use the resources it already has, and ramp up action to rid Scottish buildings of this dangerous cladding and keep people safe.' The Scottish Tenants Organisation said: "The Scottish Government is putting financial cost ahead of life and safety of tenants and residents of Scotland and it is not acceptable. "The taxpayers' money was handed to the Scottish Government to remediate dangerous cladding and it is scandalous that so little of it has been used." The Scottish Government's Cladding Remediation Programme was set up in the wake of Grenfell to safeguard residents and homeowners by addressing the fire safety risk to human life that is directly or indirectly created or exacerbated by a building's external wall cladding system. It was also established to help deal with the consequential negative impacts which can exist in relation to the buying, selling and re-mortgaging of flats in Scotland. At the time of Grenfell, cladding regulations were already stricter in Scotland than the rest of the UK, due to legislation that had been introduced in 2005. This followed a fatal fire at the Garnock Court tower block in Irvine in 1999. A 55-year-old man died in the fire and five other people, including a 15-month-old child, were injured in the Irvine blaze. Witnesses reported that a vertical ribbon of cladding on one corner of the block was quickly ablaze and the fire reached the 12th floor within 10 minutes of it starting. The flats were owned by North Ayrshire Council, who ordered the removal of plastic cladding and PVC window frames as a precaution "at whatever cost" so they could be replaced with safer materials. The then local MP, Brian Donohoe, said at the time he believed there was something "quite wrong" in the use of the cladding. Sean Clerkin, campaign co-ordinator for the STO, who was invited to give evidence at a Scottish parliamentary examination of the cladding issues said: "This is a major failing of Scottish Government policy and needs to urgently tackled." Housing secretary Mairi McAllan (Image: Derek McArthur) Last week, the housing secretary Mairi McAllan announced a further £20m to speed up action to remove dangerous cladding in Scotland. She said she was "determined" that, by 2029, every high-risk residential building over 18 metres will have been resolved, with buildings between 11 and 18 metres placed on a "clear pathway to resolution". A deadline of October 31, 2025, was set by which developers must sign the developers' remediation contract, an agreement between the UK government and major developers, requiring them to fix life-critical fire safety defects in buildings they developed or refurbished over the past 30 years. A Scottish Government spokesman said it was unfair to say that progress has been dangerously slow. 'This is an inaccurate portrayal of where Scotland's cladding remediation programme is currently at and doesn't reflect recent progress," said the spokesman. 'Since legislation came in to force in January, which gave ministers the necessary legal powers, more than 250 initial grant offers have been made to building owners and residents to take forward a Single Building Assessment. 'Ministers have committed that by 2029 every high-risk residential building over 18 metres will have been resolved, with buildings between 11 and 18 metres placed on a clear pathway to resolution.'
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Why is the Grenfell Tower blaze tragedy a disaster for Scotland?
There are concerns that that is no change from an assessment by the Scottish Parliament's local government, housing and planning committee from February, last year which found that only two of 105 being assessed in Scotland at that point for cladding remediation have had any work carried out. What is the dangerous cladding issue, and how did Grenfell Tower highlight it? London's Grenfell Tower tragedy in June 2017 tragically exposed how certain external wall system - especially Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) panels paired with combustible insulation, can enable rapid fire spread. These materials were found to dramatically accelerate the spread of the fire, contributing to 72 deaths. Is flammable cladding still present in Scotland today? Yes. It is now estimated that between 1,260 and 1,450 of the residential buildings in Scotland which are 11 metres or over may require repair to deal with a life-safety risk. Of those around 250 are over 18m high. It was previously estimated about 900 buildings were affected. READ MORE: 'Lives at risk' as ministers spend just 11% of £97m Scots safety fund 'Outrageous': Row over ScotGov's 'undemocratic' consultation over rent rises Why can't ScotGov end the nation's housing emergency? 'Appalling': Hundreds of Scots evicted from council homes despite ScotGov ban More than four years ago, The Herald first revealed about concerns about dealing with the cladding issue - when not a penny had been spent to deal with the problem. Then, their analysis found at least 85 high rise blocks and over 130 other buildings, mainly schools overseen by Scotland's 32 local authorities contained high pressure laminate (HPL) panels which safety experts have raised serious concerns over. Official analysis of local authority high rises carried out at the time showed that a further 23 of Scotland's 774 high rise buildings reported polyethylene type ACM panels (ACM-PE), another combustible material, similar to that found at Grenfell. A further 15 buildings reported "limited combustibility". What legal actions has Scotland taken to ban dangerous cladding? In April 2022, the Scottish Parliament passed legislation banning combustible cladding on high-risk buildings above 11 meters, with no option for fire-test exemptions. ACM panels are completely banned on all buildings, regardless of height. A Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety led reviews and consultation rounds, paving the way for enhanced regulatory frameworks from October 2019, with further expansions in June 2022, such as fire suppression systems and stricter design standards. What has the Scottish Government done in response to the Grenfell Inquiry? The Scottish Government embraced all 58 recommendations from the Phase 2 Grenfell Tower Inquiry, including establishing a compliance plan manager role for high-risk buildings, strengthening enforcement, and revamping building safety systems. It created a Single Building Assessment (SBA) pilot to identify and remediate dangerous cladding. As of June there were repairs on just two buildings. It launched a Single Open Call in March 2025, allowing owners to apply for funding for assessment and remediation across cladded residential buildings over 11 meters. Why does dangerous cladding remain a critical issue in Scotland? Hundreds of high-rises remain covered in flammable materials, many affecting residents directly and the removal effort has been slow. The Scottish Government believes the Cladding Remediation Programme could cost £1.7bn to £3.1bn of public money over a 15-year period.. Many residents face blocked mortgages, insurance challenges, or high remediation costs for issues they did not cause. So why does this matter for Scotland now? There are concerns that lives are still at risk as combustible cladding remains widespread eight years after Grenfell. Campaigners say existing buildings need systematic and timely remediation. Flashback to the Grenfell Tower blaze tragedy There are concerns that public trust is at stake, with critics saying Scotland must avoid complacency and ensure transparency and accountability in remediation efforts. What is the Scottish Government doing about it now? It has said that unsafe cladding would be removed by 2029 - nine years after it received £97.1m from Westminster through Barnet consequentials to fix it. Housing secretary Mairi McAllan said last week that they were about to speed up action by re-confirming £20m of funding, which had been announced in the Budget. She said: "Scotland's cladding remediation programme is progressing at pace and the additional £20 million I've announced today will further expedite this vital work. Doubling the funding for holistic single building assessments to £20 million will ensure owners and residents can rapidly and thoroughly assess works required." She said she was setting a deadline of October 31, 2025 by which "responsible" developers must sign a remediation contract.
