Secret memo exposes rift on school closures

Published on Monday 14 December 2009 21:35

THE ruling coalition on Edinburgh City Council has been hit by a split over school closures.

A leaked minute from a private SNP group meeting shows that its councillors had serious concerns over the closure programme expected to be decided later this week.

The minutes, leaked to The Scotsman, show that SNP councillors were privately furious at Liberal Democrat education leader Marilyn McLaren's handling of the programme.

They also raised concern about Ms McLaren's plan to scrap the Parents Forum which campaigned against the closure plans, according to the leaked minute.

The document tells how the SNP group was "concerned about the manner in which M McLaren has been taking this matter forward".

It also tells how SNP group leader Steve Cardownie had "made the position clear" to Lib Dem council leader Jenny Dawe that they were unhappy with the council's handling of the closures. The minute adds: "Cllr Cardownie agreed to raise with J Dawe the issue of M McLaren's conduct and that she should not continue to work in that vein."

The minute, from the SNP group's April meeting, is the clearest indication yet of the depth of the split between Lib Dem and SNP councillors in the ruling coalition.

Mrs Dawe and Mr Cardownie have insisted there was no chance of the coalition collapsing.

Mr Cardownie said yesterday: "It is unfortunate that this minute from a private meeting has fallen into the hands of the media.

"What I would say is that, in a coalition, there will always be differences of opinion on matters of policy and operations. The issue discussed at the meeting has now been resolved, and it is water under the bridge as far as we are concerned."

The decision on the proposed closure of four city primary schools will be taken on Thursday. Education bosses will be putting forward their case for closing Burdiehouse, Fort, Drumbrae and Royston primaries.

The report will include answers to questions that arose during the public consultation earlier this year.

So far, the Conservatives have said they will vote to save Drumbrae and Fort, while the Greens have pledged to vote to keep all the schools open. The Labour Party has hinted it will also be voting to save all four schools.

There has been growing speculation over recent months that the Liberal Democrat/SNP coalition in Edinburgh is about to split.

The two parties have clashed over the issue of the city's new trams, with the SNP group saying it did not support the plans.

Labour group leader Andrew Burns claimed the SNP was preparing to leave the coalition well before the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections, despite the next council elections not being due until May 2012.

He said: "They are actively planning to walk out of the council coalition in the next 18 months.

"It is just to receive any electoral advantage that they can. They realise the ongoing damage the council coalition is doing to services in Edinburgh."

Cllr Dawe could not be contacted by The Scotsman yesterday. But she has already denied rumours of a split between the coalition partners.