Council leader says £343m of general fund capital investment required

The leader of the Highland Council, Raymond Bremner, has said it is necessary to agree £343million of general fund capital investment over the five years in order to fund a number of priorities, including pupil safety.

 

Councillor Bremner said the council will continue to face challenges with capital investment, and that it had needed to review the capital programme for some time due to significant inflationary costs seen in projects across the previous programme.

 

He added that a revision of capital works would include appropriate mitigations to ensure the safety of pupils and staff in schools, supporting repairs and maintenance included in the council’s bid to Phase 3 of the Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP).

 

Councillor Bremner said: "The council remains totally committed to building the named schools in the paper that is coming to council, but this is contingent on funding being made available from the Scottish Government.

 

“We will continue to progress these projects as far as the council can to ensure the projects are deliverable should Scottish Government funding be forthcoming. As an example, the council has already agreed to and is now completing the purchase of the land for building St Clements School.

 

“The Highland Council has a vast infrastructure estate with more than 200 schools. Our vision is to provide the best possible school environments for our pupils, and we will continue to work with our partners, parents, communities and Scottish Government to achieve the investment required.”

 

In March the council agreed a single year capital budget for 2023/24, with the council's capital programme at the time totalling £475m over the coming five years.

 

However, after review, the costs of delivering the capital programme had risen to £566m by July.