3.6.7 Having given due praise for this logistical achievement of providing a place for every pupil, the impact of the enforced arrangements also caused significant additional concern, inconvenience and disruption to the lives of many pupils and parents. Some of the parents expressed the view that the level of anxiety caused by the uncertainty and disruption to their daily arrangements was not fully appreciated by the Council.
3.6.8 There was little that the Council, itself a victim of circumstances, could do to mitigate this negative impact but a complaint made by several parents who gave evidence or made submissions to the Inquiry, was in relation to the lack of clear information from the Council at the early stages of the process. In a number of circumstances, it is evident that this led to a degree of frustration on the part of some parents.
3.6.9 On the Council's part, particularly at the early stages of the closures, the reason for the somewhat limited content in their communication with parents was that they in turn were unable to get the information they needed from ESP to allow them to give firm information to teachers and parents on the extent of the defects, the level of remedial works required, and most importantly, dates for the completion of remedial works and the reopening of schools.
3.6.10 ESP, also in turn experienced difficulty, particularly in the initial weeks, in getting firm information from their supply chain.
3.6.11 A very much more positive view was expressed by those parents interviewed on the quality of communication by the Council during the later stages of the decant, once clearer information had been made available to the Council.
3.6.12 Despite this initial problem, there was also extensive praise expressed to the Inquiry for the many individual contributions made by a wide range of individuals and teams from within the Council and the schools. There was also a major appreciation of the pressures that heads and teachers had been put under and the level of resilience and positivity they were able to maintain throughout the process.