"Replacement for Madras the Priority" - Iain Smith MSP

12.00.00am GMT Tue 4th Mar 2008

Liberal Democrat MSP for North East Fife Iain Smith has called on Fife Council to make the replacement of the "inadequate buildings" of the split site Madras College its top priority for new school building.

Speaking ahead of a meeting of the Fife Council East Area Committee which will consider a report on the projected number of secondary school pupils in North East Fife in 2025, Iain Smith said the pupils had been let down by the failure of the former Labour Council to take action on Madras, and welcomed the progress to date by the Liberal Democrats in the new coalition.

"I welcome the report to the East Area Committee which gives the Council's latest estimates of future school children numbers in North East Fife.

"It is essential that accurate and up to date figures are available to Councillors and the public so that informed decisions can be made on the options for replacing Madras, including the case for a new school in the Tay Bridgehead.

"However, I am concerned that the new estimates are significantly different from those published by Fife Council just 2 years ago, and I feel that in order to be confident that the current estimates are robust and reliable the methodology used should be independently verified by an external expert.

"These estimates must have a margin of error, and it is vital that we know the possible range of pupil number by 2025, and whether the 1300 figure quoted for the Madras area is on the low end, the high end or the middle of that range.

"I hope that my colleagues on the East Area Committee will seek the answers to these questions, but the priority remains making speedy progress towards replacing the current Madras College buildings in the way that provides the best possible education for the children of North East Fife."

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