Better schools would be paid for by a mixture of Government funding, savings from closures and private sector resources. Glasgow hopes to receive the lion’s share of Pounds 15 million in “closures” money made available to the Scottish Office in the Chancellor’s July Budget.
The city also hopes to attract capital under the Government’s public-private partnership programme, which aims to build public facilities with private cash. The council estimates it will save Pounds 8 million a year by closing eight secondary schools and there would be a one-off saving of Pounds 4 million in capital receipts. This could sustain a private partnership project worth Pounds 40 million.
Substantial injections of capital will be required. All the retained 30 secondaries will need upgrading, at a cost of Pounds 15 million. Re-equipping buildings for IT, with a new technology wing in every school, will cost another Pounds 15 million. Extending existing buildings or adding new ones will add Pounds 23 million.
Running costs include Pounds 1.2 million for extra staffing if class sizes in designated schools are to be reduced to 20 to introduce a more vocational curriculum. Transport costs would be Pounds 160,000 on the assumption that as many as 1,000 pupils could be affected.