A REVIEW of all major projects in the Capital has been ordered following "serious failings" in the management of a £24 million deal to rebuild a city school.
An investigation was carried out after work on the replacement Craigroyston Community High School came to a halt at the end of last year as a result of complications with the contract.
Contractors Axiom, which is rebuilding eight city schools unde
r private finance initiative PPP2, was set to start construction on the Pennywell site in September last year.
But it found the site – which should have been completely cleared by the council under the terms of the contract – was left with problematic utility pipes, cables, equipment and asbestos.
The construction process was immediately brought to a halt, delaying the building of the school and leading to rising costs.
It was initially thought that the delays would end up costing the council up to £5m, but this figure has now been reduced to £1.3m.
The problems arising from the Craigroyston project were investigated by an internal auditor, who found weaknesses in project management, poor planning and organisation, and a lack of understanding between all parties over what constituted a cleared site.
A report by the council's chief executive, Tom Aitchison, said that responsibility rested with the project manager – who no longer works for the council – as he was "responsible for the overall co-ordination of the scheme".
The city council has accepted responsibility and insists "lessons have been learned".
It has vowed to review all large-scale projects under way in the city to prevent any similar problems arising in the future.
Jim Inch, director of corporate services, said: "For future projects, changes will be made to ensure that there is no repeat of the issues relating to Craigroyston.
"We are now undertaking a review of all current major projects, which will be reported to the council in the next couple of months."
Gordon Mackenzie, the city's finance leader, said: "The report identifies serious failings in the management of this project which we are addressing.
"The weaknesses of the approach taken in the past will be with us for many months to come, but we are determined to ensure that lessons will been learned for the projects the new administration has approved."
It was thought at the end of last year that the problems over clearing the site would result in a four-month delay in the opening of the new school.
However, the city council said today that it is in discussions with Axiom to try to bring it in on time, meaning the school could be ready to open in August 2009.
The city's education leader, Councillor Marilyne MacLaren, said: "It is disappointing that these issues arose, which has cost this administration a substantial sum of money.
"I am delighted for the school that they are going to get a brand new building.
"Aside from the issues highlighted in this report, this is a very exciting project and we must not lose sight of the fact that we are going to deliver eight new schools, improving substantially the learning environment."
The full article contains 529 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
