City leaders under fire for 'failing future generations'

PARENTS and politicians have told city leaders that catering cutbacks and delays to school building projects will continue to fail Edinburgh's children for generations to come.

Education issues dominated yesterday's meeting of the full council, leading to heated exchanges across the floor of the City Chambers.

Parents and children protested outside the building against the council's decision to axe hot meals in 14 city nurseries.

Green councillor Alison Johnstone said: "In one fell swoop, we are failing our children."

BLAST: Marilyne MacLaren

Separately, parents from Boroughmuir, James Gillespie's and Portobello high schools, who have been waiting years for new schools, told councillors that a 14-year wait to complete the "wave three" project would be a "dreadful indictment of the present (Lib Dem/SNP] administration". Tory education spokesman Jeremy Balfour said the history books would show that "we failed numerous generations of children throughout the whole of the city."

The council has warned that if Holyrood does not help finance the school modernisation programme, it could be 2022 before the five buildings – including St Crispin's Special School and St John's Primary – finally get replaced or rebuilt. In addition, education chiefs have warned that the council's revenue funds face being hit for the next 25 years.

Education leader Marilyne MacLaren said the council was doing the best it can with limited resources, and urged the UK Government to help out. But Labour group leader Andrew Burns said: "This represents a massive political failure. Children born tomorrow will not attend these wave three schools because they will take 14 years to build."

His deputy, Ian Perry, added: "The Scottish Government is going to have to give up its pledge to match (Labour's plans to build new schools] brick-for-brick."

Forth councillor Elizabeth Maginnis said the council would be left with a "credit note" for 25 years, but SNP group leader Steve Cardownie said the legacy of Labour's private finance initiative (PFI) scheme would be even worse.

Cllr MacLaren blasted Labour councillors for "tittering" while she spoke, adding: "We should be working together to find a solution. We are in as good a place as we can possibly be, given the circumstances."

Earlier, Mike Robb, vice chairman of Portobello High School Parent Council, said: "It seems to us that this boils down to political will. What we need now is action."

During the debate on nursery school dinners – highlighted in the News after hot food was replaced with "unhealthy" packed lunches – parents said their children now have upset stomachs and throw temper tantrums.

Full-time mum Mary Kernohan, 39, from Fountainhall Road, whose four-year-old daughter Susannah attends Hope Cottage nursery in East Crosscauseway, told councillors: "This ignores efforts by the Scottish Government to reduce obesity and demonstrates a disrespect to the health of our children. It will cost the children their health, their choice, a social experience and an overall education experience."

Cllr MacLaren admitted: "The kind of food is not at all appropriate or satisfactory. I can assure you that we don't differ in our aims and objectives."

But Cllr Burns said: "Nobody can be left in any doubt about the damage of these changes."

He presented a motion calling on councillors to agree the decision was a "serious mistake," but this was ruled "incompetent" by Lord Provost George Grubb, who said the administration is already taking emergency action to improve the quality of meals.