Vote needed to save primary schools modernisation plan

Oct 18 2007 Report by John Rowbotham

A REFERENDUM could be held on the future of South Lanarkshire’s primary schools modernisation plan.

Council Leader Eddie McAvoy believes a vote may be the only way of ‘saving’ the £850m scheme.

Part of the funding for the project comes from a one per cent rise in council tax each year.

Councillor McAvoy believes that if the Scottish Government press ahead with a plan for a freeze on council tax increases next year, South Lanarkshire’s schools programme could be thrown into doubt.

He told last Wednesday’s executive committee that a referendum might be the only way to “bring pressure on the government to replace the money lost to the council through any freeze”.

South Lanarkshire has 124 primary schools, and the council hope within 10 years to replace 108 of them and modernise the remainder.

To date, 18 new schools have been built with another 11 under construction.

Councillor McAvoy said the one per cent council tax increase was in the main paying for the new primaries.

He added: “The Scottish Government want us to freeze the council tax at the present level, thus denying us access to the main funding mechanism that was working so well.

“Such an action would mean we [without some other Government-funded arrangement to replace the lost income] could not pay for the building of the other 79 new primaries we have planned unless we cut other services to keep the programme going.”

He continued: “Before we might be forced, however reluctantly, to consider going down that road, we would want to confirm the support of the people of South Lanarkshire for our primary schools programme and the way it is being funded.

“I think the best way to do that could be to hold a referendum.”

The all-party executive committee noted councillor McAvoy’s comments.

A Scottish Government spokesman confirmed they wanted to see a freeze in council tax rates from next April.

They plan to introduce legislation to replace the tax with a “fairer” local income tax.

He added: "The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth (John Swinney) has had a number of constructive discussions with COSLA and individual local authorities about working to secure a strategic agreement on the delivery of public services through local government, reducing the vast amounts of regulation under which they operate, strengthening the role of local authorities in local governance and freezing council tax levels.

"These discussions are ongoing.”

Government sources said there was in place legislative powers enabling Scottish Ministers to propose a reduction in council tax levels in certain “rare” circumstances.

However, Ministers believe that a council tax freeze can best be achieved through negotiation and agreement with councils.