East Lothian £11 million new primary school uncertain after council loses out on Scottish Government funding

East Lothian Council cash bid rejected for new East Linton Primary School

The future of a new £11 million village primary school is in doubt after East Lothian Council lost out on Scottish Government funding for it.

The local authority had applied for cash to fund a replacement school for East Linton, but they have been told that money from the third round of grants from the Scottish Government’s Learning Estates Investment Programme would only be available to councils who had not been successful in the past. East Lothian has received funding for two previous projects.

Councillor Fiona Dugdale, the Labour administration’s education spokesperson, hit out at the decision which she said meant they would have to reconsider the planned new school. She said: “It was not made clear at any point in the application process that authorities who had previously received investment would not be considered. Indeed our application throughout the process was actively encouraged.

East Lothian Council's bid for Scottish Government cash to help build a replacement primary school in East Linton was unsuccessful.

“While we are grateful to have benefited from previous rounds, this decision will be deeply disappointing for East Linton Primary School and the wider community.

“The project had been paused until the funding announcement was made. We will now need to carefully determine next steps set against the financial challenges that the council is facing and the decisions that we are having to make regarding our capital programme.”

Councillors agreed to approve a new school in the village to replace its existing 140-year-old primary building after a planned extension was dropped.. At the time the council’s head of education Nicola McDowell welcomed the decision.

She said: “The data that we hold on East Linton Primary School and which was shared as part of our Learning Estate Review consultation showed that works are required to bring the existing school up to a modern standard in line with the facilities that we have elsewhere in the county. We look forward to working with the school, its families and the wider community to develop proposals that will benefit learners and East Linton.”

East Lothian Council received funding for the new Wallyford Learning Campus in the first round of funding for schools and for a replacement primary school at Whitecraig in the second round.