East Ayrshire Council to get share of £800million schools budget

Jul 3 2009 by Colin Rutherford, Kilmarnock Standard

THE Scottish government’s announcement of an extra £800 million for building new schools across Scotland has been welcomed by East Ayrshire Council.

The new money for councils is part of a £1.25 billion package which will assist with the replacement of schools in the worst condition.

The bulk of the new funding will pay for the construction costs of the secondary schools, while local authorities will have to meet the remainder. The remainder of the Government funding will support the building of the primary schools on a 50/50 basis with local authorities.

The first local authorities to benefit will be announced in September, with the rest in 2011. Funding will come on stream next financial year for primary schools and the following for secondaries. All the primary schools will be built by 2014-15 and the secondaries by 2017-18.

Council leader Douglas Reid said: “Raising educational attainment is one of the top priorities of East Ayrshire Council. In our 10-year capital programme, we will deliver six new schools and the announcement by Fiona Hyslop, cabinet secretary, will allow us to take our plans even further.

“I will be asking the chief executive and officers to bring forward proposals to take full advantage of this new funding, now available through the Scottish Futures Trust.”