Cost of repairing vandalism in schools nears £5m in five years

Almost £5 million has been spent repairing vandalism in Scottish schools in the last five years, figures from the Scottish Tories show.

Almost £5 million has been spent repairing vandalism in Scottish schools in the last five years

The figures, obtained by the party through freedom of information legislation, revealed that £690,280 has been spent repairing malicious damage in secondary, primary and special schools in 2022/23.

Stephen Kerr, the party’s education spokesman, accused the Scottish Government of “inexcusable indifference” towards the state of schools amid the “staggering” data.

In the 2021/22 school year, £1,167,683 was spend on vandalism repairs, taking the total to £4,961,189 over the last five years.

However, the total figure is thought to be higher as 10 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities did not respond to the request for data.

Mr Kerr said: “It’s disgraceful that already scarce resources are having to be spent on repairing damage to schools caused by mindless vandals.

“These louts should be ashamed of themselves – but the need for such expensive repairs poses the question as to why the SNP Government have not ensured our schools are properly safeguarded and protected in the first place.

“We need effective CCTV systems to act as both a deterrent and a means of identifying and punishing offenders.

“The staggering cost of vandalism is further evidence of the SNP’s inexcusable indifference to the state of Scotland’s schools.”

He went on to urge Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth to “get to grips” with the issue, adding: “Vandals must know that the full weight of the law is there to deal with this destructive, anti-social behaviour.

“But this problem is just another symptom of the decline in education on the SNP’s watch.

“Whether it’s Scotland tumbling down international league tables, broken promises to eradicate the attainment gap or increasing violence towards teachers, the Nationalists’ record is shameful.”

A spokesperson for Ms Gilruth said: “The Education Secretary is deeply concerned that the Conservative spokesperson for Education has described Scottish school pupils as ‘louts’.

“We certainly do not need CCTV in our schools watching our children, as the Conservatives appear to be implying.

“The Education Secretary wants to work with Scotland’s children and young people – she will leave the ridiculous name calling to the Conservatives, whose behaviour in this press release alone evidences why they should be nowhere near making decisions on Scottish education.”