Nearly 100 Highland schools left heating on during first week of 2025 summer holidays

Nearly 100 Highland schools left their heating on during the first week of the summer holidays.

A Highland Council assessment found that 93 out 117 evaluated schools had their heating systems fully operational during the first week of the summer break.

A further 11 sites had their systems operational, but with reduced hours.

Council staff were able to remotely turn off systems at 83 sites where the heating was still on.

Based on conservative estimates, switching the heating off at those 83 sites saved the council around £48,298 for the remainder of the holidays.

The Council’s heating policy states that heating systems should be switched off during the non-heating season from June 1 to August 31.

The report is due to be considered at November’s meeting of the council’s climate change committee.

Councillors will be told that the summer heating assessment will be repeated in 2026.

The council is also planning to incorporate a requirement for properties to confirm heating systems have been switched off by the end of June each year going forward.

There are around 200 schools in the Highland Council area, and officers said switching the heating off during the summer could both reduce energy consumption – and subsequently costs – as well as carbon emissions.

Councillors will discuss the contents of the report on November 5.