Edinburgh council blasted for passing on bill for new high schools to taxpayers

Council leaders have been slammed for passing on the bill for three new high schools to residents after funding requests to the Scottish Government have “fallen on deaf ears”.

Edinburgh City Council has proposed to hike council tax by 4.79 per cent in each of the next three years – despite a commitment made in 2017 to cap any rise at three per cent. The authority says that the additional rise will be used to tally up cash to plough into new high school buildings.

But Conservatives have blasted the proposals – claiming that residents in the south west of the city, who campaigned for new schools to be built, will now be blamed for council tax bills across the city going up.

Cllr Susan Webber, who represents the Pentland Hills ward and fronted the schools campaign, has criticised the approach by the SNP-Labour administration.

She said: “The SNP-Labour administration is very short-sighted and they are taking us for fools. They are just scrambling around to cover their backs after promising these schools would be built and then realised that their plea for funding has been ignored.

“They appear to be putting the blame for the council tax rise on the campaigners in Pentland Hills for wanting these new schools.”

Over a ten-year period, the council is pledging £51 million for Currie High, which is due to be completed by June 2024, while phase two of work at Trinity Academy will provide £42m before it opens in 2025. Around £36m has been earmarked for Wester Hailes Education Centre, £57m for Balerno and £49m.

The Tory group’s finance spokesperson, Cllr Graham Hutchison, said his party will be bringing forward a budget that focuses on education, social care, roads and homelessness.

He added: “We are coming up with more significant investment than the administration has. There is very little new in these proposals – they are the same ideas that have been rejected previously.”

The council is having to earmark £88m of cuts over the next three years, including £35m in the next financial year. Proposals include replacing dedicated nursery teachers with local pools to save £900,000.

Council leader Cllr Adam McVey added: “The expectations is that council tax will be risen by 4.79 per cent. The reason we are looking at 4.79 per cent is to use the additional money to meet the commitments in our manifesto to fund our school building programme.”