Schools are told to pay water bills from their own budget

Published on Wednesday 11 November 2009 08:30

SCHOOLS in Edinburgh have been told they will have to pay water bills out of their own budgets – leading to threats of turning off drinking fountains to save money.

It has emerged that cash-strapped education bosses are installing water meters at schools across the city as part of the latest efficiency drive.

Water charges are currently paid through a central council budget but this will change next year and schools will be expected to find the money themselves from already tight budgets.

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And the headteacher at Pentland Primary in Oxgangs has already reportedly told parents she is considering turning off the fountains as one measure to make ends meet.

One parent council member said: "The water issue is a big one for schools. If one of the pupils leaves the tap running, or if we have a leak or burst pipe then that's going to come out of our budget.

"Headteachers have been asked to look at areas to reduce costs and our headteacher has told us one of the ways to do this is to look at the water fountains."

Such a move has already been condemned as "ridiculous", with critics saying it will have a damaging effect on children's health and education as well as forcing parents to pay for bottled water.

Heather Levy, chairwoman of Firrhill Community Council, who has a nine-year-old daughter at Pentland Primary, said: "I think it's a basic right especially when you hear constantly that kids are dehydrated in buildings like that.

"There's a huge health issue about teaching kids to eat and drink properly. The first thing any child does when they come home from school is have a drink.

"Schools are quick enough at shouting at parents for sending them to school with fizzy drinks, but at the same time they are taking away water. It's about teaching kids good habits."

Schools already manage their own gas and electricity budgets and council bosses say devolving the water budgets to headteachers will simply be bringing it in line with the other utilities. The added financial pressure would also be reflected in the budget, they say.

Education leader Councillor Marilyne MacLaren said: "This is about giving schools as much control of the utilities they use as possible. This gives schools and headteachers the incentive to manage their resources wisely, and therefore to make savings."

But Councillor Ricky Henderson, Labour's education spokesman, said: "Any move that forced a school into cutting off supplies of drinking water does seem to be ridiculous, particularly given that we are trying to encourage children to drink more water and less fizzy juice."

And Edinburgh South MP Nigel Griffiths hit out at council cutbacks which he said would cause "lasting damage" to children's education. He said: "There were severe cuts two years ago but parent opposition prevented hard cuts this year.

"Now Cllr MacLaren seems to feel confident she can impose further cuts to make up for the mismanagement of the council budget."