12.2.1 On 8th April 2016, ESP reported to the Council the discovery of further defects and as a result withdrew their previous confirmation that the schools were safe to occupy.
12.2.2 Up to this point the only defect that the Council has been aware of was the lack of embedment of wall ties across the PPP1 schools. To deal with this, while the Council had strongly stated a preference for all of the remedial work necessary to be carried out immediately, a compromise option had been agreed with ESP.
12.2.3 As previously described, this compromise would have allowed the schools to reopen, after the Easter holiday, on 11th April 2016 subject to the later completion in the holiday period of: the installation of remedial wall ties at entrances and exits to schools; the creation of adequately protected external exclusion zones around areas of wall that had not been remediated during this period; and the introduction of an inclement weather protocol.
12.2.4 With the announcement on Friday 8th April, only three days before reopening of the schools was due, of a second serious deficiency in the construction of the walls, followed by the withdrawal by ESP of confirmation that the schools were safe to occupy, the Council had little option but to close all the PPP1 schools with immediate effect. The Inquiry has already concluded that this was the correct decision in the circumstances.
12.2.5 This decision was largely driven by the determination of the Council not to expose pupils and staff to what were largely indeterminate risks.
12.2.6 The Head of Schools and Life Long Learning at the Council stated in evidence to the Inquiry:
"There was at that time talk about initiating a more measured approach with a 'red, amber, green' system of effectively prioritising different sites. But to be honest, we wanted everything to be green and completely safe. We needed to have confidence in the safety of the buildings and to be able to convey that confidence to parents. A risk based approach was not enough to satisfy us or the parents."
12.2.7 The decision to close the schools had major implications for the Council in terms of dealing with the requirement to relocate within the shortest possible time 3,198 primary school children, 4,327 secondary school pupils, 107 children with additional support needs and 738 nursery children; a total of 8,371 pupils.
12.2.8 The Inquiry was advised that alternative teaching accommodation, alternative transport and alternative catering arrangements had been put in place for most of the pupils by Thursday 14th April 2016 and for all by Wednesday 20th April 2016.
12.2.9 It is the view of the Inquiry that this was quite a remarkable feat to have achieved within an immensely short time, especially without the benefit of any lead-in period and within only a few days of the unexpected announcement that the schools would have to close.
12.2.10 As a result of clear and timely decision making by the leadership team at the Council, the concerted efforts of all parties concerned and the generous support of a range of other agencies, what would have been considered at the outset to be almost impossible was achieved. Emergency arrangements might be expected to cater for the closure of perhaps one or two schools simultaneously but to cope as effectively as was done with the simultaneous closure of 17 schools is deserving of praise to all those involved.
12.2.11 The solution, while finding places for all the children, did however create a range of unavoidable difficulties for pupils, parents and teaching staff.
12.2.12 The difficulties in coping with the logistics of the decant in relation to Rowanfield and Braidburn were particularly significant for pupils, parents and teachers.
12.2.13 Because of the city-wide nature of the catchment population for these two schools, the disruption of having the pupils dispersed over several sites across the City was particularly difficult to cope with. The more complex needs of the pupils required access to special catering, special equipment and specialist teaching support, all of which because of the dispersed locations of pupils required additional transport and storage arrangements.
12.2.14 The Inquiry was informed by one of the two Head Teachers that it was impossible, because of the time lost travelling between the sites, to maintain the same level of access to specialist teachers and allied health professionals who provide direct therapy support for a range of the pupils. She also advised the Inquiry that the changes were particularly unsettling for that group of pupils who were on the autistic spectrum for whom any change to routine can be problematic.
12.2.15 The additional travel time was seen as perhaps the worst aspect of the enforced moves for this group. She added;
"Journey times increased very significantly for some pupils who could find themselves being bussed from their muster points to the alternative accommodation and that taking anything up to an hour each way. That would need to happen both at the beginning and at the end of each school day so that in some extreme cases, pupils were not leaving to go to their school facilities until ten thirty in the morning and were coming back by two thirty in order for pick up. Given their lunch break they were only getting about three hours of education a day."
12.2.16 While relocating the pupils and teaching staff was clearly a major achievement, the process of having to do so was undoubtedly the cause of disruption and inconvenience to many parents in homes throughout Edinburgh. There was little that the Council could effectively do to avoid these inevitable consequences of the enforced moves, however it was clear to the Inquiry that at all times throughout the decant period the Council were very sensitive to the concerns of pupils, parents and teaching staff and sought to address them in every way possible.