Projects planned to improve local schools will be prioritised this summer in an effort to mitigate the impact of coronavirus.
During each holiday period, the council has a dedicated programme of improvement works across many local schools, which can range from large projects to relatively minor maintenance upgrades.
This summer around 100 projects were due to be completed. However the council relies upon contractors to undertake building work and the coronavirus and subsequent lockdown period has had a significant impact on the construction industry.
Some projects within West Lothian Council’s school summer improvement programme will be delayed as a result of the pandemic but the council is focusing on progressing projects this summer that are deemed to be priority works.
Other planned projects that were due to be undertaken over the summer months will either be re-phased until later in the year and carried out during term time if possible, or postponed until next year.
David Dodds, executive councillor for education said: “Some key early learning and childcare projects will begin soon, hopefully, but that depends on the green light being provided by the government.
“However, others will have to be re-programmed into the school term and others are still uncertain and depend on a number of factors. The council relies upon both internal and external contractors to undertake building work and the challenges that building contractors and the sector overall is going through has been well-publicised. Our team will continue to prioritise work and do what they can to get as much work undertaken as quickly as possible, however there is little doubt that there will be a significant impact on our current summer programme of works.”
Donald Forrest, head of finance and property services added: “There is still a lot of uncertainty around at present and our programme is being kept under constant review during this time.”
