A delay in a decision of future running of school community wings has been welcomed by West Lothian’s Tory group leader.
Twelve local primary schools have community wings where space is leased by local groups.
In January they were brought into an ongoing review looking to save £1m by transferring community centres to local ownership.
The move was criticised at the time, with concerns over why it was only decided to bring them into the review in January – nine months after it started – and the fact that community wings are public space in schools, and are not the same as community centres
Councillor Damian Doran-Timson said this week he was “delighted” that officers working on the review would take more time to look at how the primary school spaces are used by community groups.
The community centre review has caused anxiety across the county since it was first introduced in May last year. Many local management committees have rejected proposals to take on ownership of the buildings, saying the largely volunteer led groups do not have the expertise, time or financial wherewithal to become property managers.
Opposition groups expressed anger when the decision was taken to include school community wings in the process.
In a report to this month’s Corporate Policy and Resources PDSP Julie Whitelaw, the Head of Housing, Customer and Building Services, said a decision on the way ahead for school community wings would now be taken after the summer recess ounce council officers had heard feedback from all management committees.
In her report Mrs Whitelaw said the operating arrangements for the twelve schools varied from location to location and: “in many cases those arrangements are historic, outdated and in some cases undocumented.”
The report added: “Those inconsistencies and the lack of suitable reference documentation have resulted in a range of operational problems (health and safety, financial and curriculum related) and in some instances this has given rise to ongoing tensions between community groups and those responsible for the safe operation of the school.”
A briefing for all school wing Management Committees was undertaken in March and it was decided to gather information on the usage of the community wings as well as consideration of options to reduce the costs to the council.
The report added: “Officers’ initial review of options for school wings has identified two options. The first would be for all community wings to come under the remit of the school under a ‘curriculum first’ approach and for any existing arrangements with management committees to be cancelled.
“The second would be for suitable new leasing arrangements to be put in place at those locations where management committees currently operate the facilities. Those new leases would seek to address established operational problems and existing financial imbalances.”
She concluded: “Feedback from the management committees is still awaited and officers require time to analyse and interpret the proforma feedback and discussion with colleagues.
“Therefore, it is proposed to extend the timeline for engagement with community wing management committees and report back to Council Executive following the Summer recess on the findings of the engagement and the recommended changes to the operating model.”
Councillor Doran-Timson told the meeting that the community wings should never have been brought into the community centre review process because of the unique operational differences between school space and public community buildings.
He added: “I’m delighted to see the extension put on the community wings. They should have been dealt with separately, but we are where we are with that.”
The Conservative group leader commended Mrs Whitelaw and all officers working on the “mammoth task” of trying to find ways of making community centres across the county more economically viable.
The 12 community wings are in: –
Blackridge Primary School
Boghall Primary School
Dedridge Primary School
Greenrigg Primary School
Livingston Village Primary School
Toronto Primary School
Longridge Community wing
Peel Primary School
Simpson Primary School
Springfield Primary School
Westfield Primary School
Woodmuir Primary School
By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter
