Councillors are being asked to agree to settle a near £6 million insurance claim for the fire-hit Braeview Academy building.
The policy and resources committee will be told at a meeting on Monday November 16 that “settling the claim for a reduced portion of the total rebuilding and business continuity costs make financial and strategic sense in the current circumstances”.
Parts of Braeview Academy were devastated by a blaze which broke out in September 2018.
In the weeks that followed, pupils were decanted to two other secondary schools while a portacabin village was built beside their school. They returned to Braeview in December 2018.
Since then, consultation has been carried out on potential options for new secondary schooling, with views sought this year on a £60 million merged secondary to replace both Braeview Academy and Craigie High School. A report is expected to be considered on this in early 2021.
Councillors will hear that settling the insurance claim does not in any way effect any resulting decisions that might be considered in light of the consultation. It is likely that if the current consultation is successfully concluded, the build period would allow new accommodation to be ready by around August 2025.
This would allow the Braeview pupils to remain decanted in the new portacabin village until this point. The costs for the extended decant would be funded beyond December 2020 from the indemnity settlement agreed with the Insurers.
If there was no agreement for a merged secondary, pupils could remain in the portacabins until a replacement was ready.
Children and families convener Councillor Stewart Hunter said: “Settling the claim now would allow us to remain flexible about solutions for the future of Braeview Academy.
“We need to determine the best option for the way forward for secondary schooling in the area.
“While the portacabin village is an excellent facility, it is only meant to be short term. This settlement will help us to maintain the temporary portacabins until a replacement is ready.
“This is a sensible suggestion as we look to make decisions about the years ahead for Braeview.
“I would also like to praise everyone connected with Braeview Academy for the impressive way that they have dealt with this major incident.
“Staff and pupils, along with families, have shown tremendous spirit and resilience in the face of very challenging circumstances.”
Dundee City Council
Dundee draws skilled workers from a 60-minute catchment population of 640,000 and has a local population of over 140,000. The availability of a large pool of highly skilled labour is a key feature in the Dundee economy. Flexibility in the labour force is currently more prevalent in Dundee than in Scotland as a whole. All forms of labour market flexibility - part-time, temporary employment, self-employment and shift work - are widely operational within the city. Labour force stability in the city is excellent, enabling companies to plan with confidence. Labour turnover levels are less than 5% and absenteeism averages 2%.
