Aberdeen City Councillors updated on school estate plan

03 March 2021

Councillors were today (Wednesday 3 March) updated on progress in Aberdeen City Council’s School Estate Plan.

A report on the process and timeline for the plan was discussed at today’s full Council meeting and councillors instructed the Corporate Landlord Chief Officer to present the finalised plan at the Education Operational Delivery Committee scheduled for summer 2022.

The report and instruction take into consideration the impact of the pandemic on timescales and the requirement to defer the School Estate Plan until summer 2022 in order to allow additional time for officers to collate key sets of data which will inform the final plan.

The report also highlighted that officers who would otherwise have been working on the School Estate Plan had devoted the majority of their time from May to August last year in developing and contributing to local guidance and measures to allow for the safe reopening of the city’s schools in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Council Co Leader, Councillor Jenny Laing, said: “We are determined to deliver first class educational facilities across the city to give our young people the best starts in life. We have invested tens of millions in new schools in recent years with a further £23 million being invested in nursery settings to allow us to provide the best Early Learning and Childcare settings to meet our expanded hours offering.

“While we acknowledge the impact the pandemic has had on our timescales in finalising the School Estate Plan, our commitment to delivering top class schools remains unchanged and we look forward to an exciting future for our school estate.”