'Incompetent' Dargavel school errors will cost £60m to fix amid fear of wider impact

Repeated failings by “incompetent” managers of a council’s school project will cost £60m to fix while the wider impact on finances and services remains unclear.

Botched calculations by Renfrewshire Council saw Dargavel Primary School built too small.

The local authority must now build a second primary school and an extension for Park Mains High School.

An investigation into the catalogue of errors, conducted by a former chief executive of four councils, examined the Section 75 agreements between the council and landowner BAE Systems.

It uncovered a series of damning discoveries, including that senior education management at the time were “incompetent”, “repeated failure” to test data, and a suggestion officers showed “professional arrogance” in response to concerns.

An update from the Scotland’s council watchdog, the Accounts Commission, found that concerns remain about a lack of transparency over the potential impacts on finances and services as Renfrewshire Council must now fund the expansion of school provision there.

“Whilst it’s clear action is being taken to address the cultures and behaviours that resulted in the failures of school provision, now the council must demonstrate sustained change and improvement in the longer-term,” said Andrew Burns, deputy chair of the Accounts Commission, said.

“Councillors have a critical leadership role. To help ensure they fulfil their scrutiny and decision-making responsibilities, councillors must have access to, and take up, appropriate training and development.

“This is vital to ensure historic failures of leadership and governance at the council are not repeated.”

The follow-up report by the Accounts Commission says concerns remain about the council’s engagement with communities.

The Commission urged the council to demonstrate that it will both listen and act on the breadth and strength of views.

It said the council needs to develop a financial plan that sets out actions to mitigate the additional costs and be clear on the wider impacts on services.

Earlier this month, an external auditor appointed to the council said the authority had “owned” the failings was determined not to repeat them.

Gary Devlin said he observed, “a council that is trying to do all the right things, it’s recognised a serious failing and it’s owned that failing in a sense”.

Renfrewshire Council welcomed the Accounts Commission’s recognition of the work the local authority had done in the wake of the debacle.

However, a Council spokesperson said the Commission recognised auditors found no evidence the roll-projection error had had a negative impact on services so far.

Responding to the call for the Council to be more transparent, the spokesperson said: “Contrary to views expressed in the findings, the expected financial impact of expanding school provision in the area has already been set out in multiple reports to councillors since late 2022, and our external auditor has previously acknowledged the openness and transparency with which we have approached this difficult and challenging issue.”

They said that the future impacts of the additional costs were being considered through wider financial planning to ensure the Council remains financially stable.