Exclusive:Inside how 'distraught' staff found class toys and sofas dumped in skips at 7 Scottish schools

A Scottish council education boss left teachers “distraught” after ordering that dozens of items of “non compliant” classroom furniture and equipment be dumped in skips - and then she billed the seven schools for the work.

Contractors also mistakenly binned other items, including those belonging to a local playgroup, after a “miscommunication” left the charity unaware of plans for a deep clean of facilities this summer. The playgroup and at least one parent council have demanded compensation for the blunder.

The Scotsman first revealed in August how shocked teachers in Midlothian had returned from the summer holidays to find classroom furniture and teaching materials in skips.

Equipment in a skip at a Midlothian primary | Contributed

The issue followed a deep clean carried out by a contractor at seven primary schools - Gorebridge, Lawfield, Loanhead, Moorfoot, Stobhill, Strathesk and Tynewater.

Under a public-private partnership (PPP) deal, facilities management at the schools is contracted to a company called Skanska. The full circumstances behind the debacle have now been revealed, with the release of 305 pages of email communications to The Scotsman under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws.

The decision to order the skips to the seven schools was taken by the authority’s top education official, Fiona Robertson, who also decided to bill the schools for the work.

Contributed

Minutes from a meeting suggest she wrote to schools warning of the plans, but the communication was not sent for almost three weeks, until after the equipment had been dumped.

On May 7 this year, a representative from the contractor Skanska wrote to those involved saying “any furniture introduced to the facilities MUST be supplied by the Authority (council) through their agreed procurement partners; this should ensure that what is provided is safe to be used in the school environment”.

Later that month, council officials received “complaints from head teachers” following a Skanska communication that “reinforces the position that all resources not authorised by Skanska must be removed from schools before summer cleaning”.

Ms Robertson, the council’s executive director of children, young people and partnerships, wrote to colleagues on May 23 saying: “I do not understand the sudden reaction to this by Skanska given the resources have been in the building for some time. If they had concerns, these should have been raised at an earlier stage.”

In June, a Skanska representative wrote to the schools saying anything left in place over the summer would be moved to another part of the school to enable cleaning. But they said “no items will be disposed of”, with those words underlined and italicised for emphasis.

However, an email from Ms Robertson explains how she was contacted in July over “concerns about the amount of non-compliant items that were a fire and health and health and safety risk”.

She visited two of the schools “to understand the concerns being raised” and was “disappointed to see broken and dirty toys, old domestic couches and chairs, domestic lights, dirty domestic rugs etc that had been accumulated over a period of time”.

In an email, she explained: “Rather than have these items returned to learning spaces, I agreed that we would order skips to remove broken, non-compliant items.”

Ms Robertson wrote to head teachers and childcare centre managers in a letter dated July 30 to say: “Arrangements have been made to remove some of the existing inappropriate items over the summer holiday period. Disposal costs will be charged back to the individual school’s budget.”

However, it was not sent until almost three weeks later, on August 19. By that time, staff had already returned to the schools to find their furniture and equipment in skips.

On Monday, August 12, as staff returned, one manager wrote to colleagues saying: “Unfortunately we now have staff personal belongings in skips. Resources that were procured properly and meet the relevant standards have been placed in skips, according to school leaders who have sent in photos of examples.

“At Stobhill, the belongings of a charity (Arniston Playgroup) have been placed in a skip too.”

Earlier that day, a different official wrote: “We’ve had a couple of emails and calls this morning with a few teachers and the head teacher of Stobhill in a panic regarding the furniture situation.

“The staff obviously had plans for today and tomorrow, including training sessions which have had to be altered to begin looking at relocating the furniture back.”

Arniston Playgroup subsequently lodged a claim for compensation, as did Loanhead Primary Parent Council. The council apologised to the playgroup, saying a “miscommunication” had meant non-council groups were not warned in advance.

A spokesperson for Midlothian Council said the decision to dispose of the items was taken because all furniture within the school must be fire compliant, electrically PAT tested and authorised by Skanska, under the terms of its PPP contract.

The spokesperson added: “As per our agreement with our PPP contractors, the unauthorised items of furniture and equipment were the responsibility of each school and therefore the costs to remove these should be borne by the school in the first instance, but this will be subject to a further review to be undertaken by Education.”

On claims for compensation, the authority said: “The council will investigate and consider any claims that may arise.”

A Midlothian Council spokesperson added: “Before the end of term, head teachers at the seven schools managed by our appointed contractor, Skanska, were asked by the contractor to remove non-compliant furniture and tidy learning spaces to allow for the schools to be deep cleaned during the holidays.

“All Skanska schools have a process in place to manage the introduction of new equipment and furnishings, which require to meet the expected health and safety standards. With the permission of the education service, Skanska removed items that did not comply with these standards.”

The council added that it understood “some items may have been taken out in error” and “we realise this has caused some upset”, but that it was also aware it must meet its contractual obligations and health and safety guidelines.