5.11.1 The City of Edinburgh Council wrote to ESP on the 14th April 2016 advising ESP that it intended to exercise its right under the provisions of the PPP1 Project Agreement to make deductions from the unitary charge as a result of the service failures at all schools from the 8th April 2016, when ESP withdrew its previous confirmation that the schools were safe for occupancy.
5.11.2 The Council also confirmed that it reserved its right to apply contractual deductions due to the service failures resulting from defects that may have been present and/or materialised in respect of the period prior to 8th April 2016.
5.11.3 The Council subsequently commenced making deductions, in accordance with their assessment of the contractual provision for deductions, from their payment of the unitary charge to ESP. They continued to make such calculated deductions over the following months to reflect the periods of unavailability for each school until satisfactory remedial works had been completed and each school was available for re-occupation.
5.11.4 The Council also advised ESP in a letter sent on 27th April 2016 that, as a result of the closure of the schools, it had incurred significant additional expenditure under a range of headings including accommodation, transport, meals, deployment of staff and procurement of external advice and would require reimbursement of all additional costs so incurred.