School cleaning crisis deepens

THE staff crisis which has forced teachers in Edinburgh to clean their own classrooms has deteriorated further over the last few months, it has emerged.

Education chiefs have branded the situation with the private cleaning contractor "completely unacceptable" and vowed to get it under control within the next two months.

The Evening News revealed last October that a shortage of cleaners meant that classrooms were being left untouched and tasks such as vacuuming and wiping surfaces were neglected, with the limited cleaning staff told to concentrate on "key areas" such as toilets.

A full report on the crisis was called for by Labour councillor Ewan Aitken after he was told by teachers in his ward that they were being left to pick up the pieces.

In the report, published today, council bosses have admitted that the situation got out of control when the number of cleaning vacancies hit 180 at Christmas time.

It is unclear exactly why the posts have been so hard to fill, but the council said previous experience of using staffing agencies to provide cleaners had "proved problematic".

Jim Inch, director of corporate services, and education director Gillian Tee wrote: "Increasingly during this period, vacancies were managed by the relocation of staff between establishments to ensure a balance across the estate and by increasing amounts of overtime and weekend cleaning.

"In spite of this, it was not always possible to meet the full cleaning specification and key areas such as toilets were given priority.

"Frontline and management staff were under severe pressure to sustain the service in a number of schools and other council buildings."

The total sum being spent by the children and families department on cleaning for 2009-10 is around 4.7 million.

The department is currently reviewing its contract with Direct Cleaning, which is responsible for cleaning all council buildings, to take into account the additional costs of stepping in to deal with the shortage.

Concerns have previously been raised about the possible hygiene risk associated with poorly cleaned school buildings and Cllr Aitken believes it has taken the council "far too long" to sort out the situation, which first came to light several months ago.

He said: "It's a scandal that this service, which in the end affects children, was being cut back and, as a consequence, education was suffering.

"We have to get this situation sorted quickly.

"Finally they have admitted it and I'm grateful for that but it's taken far too long already."

City education leader Councillor Marilyne MacLaren said: "This is a completely unacceptable situation.

"It is vitally important that schools get the cleaning services they need and if there is a problem with that, I want to be assured that it will be fixed.

"I have asked for regular updates on the situation and I expect to see improvements, fast."