Revealed: Cost of vandalism repairs to schools in West Dunbartonshire

The figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from the Scottish Conservatives, show that a total of £59,691 has been spent on repairs to primary, secondary, and additional needs schools in the region since 2018.

In May last year, the Post reported that vandals had struck at a Clydebank school ten times in just five months.

A wooden hut at Our Lady of Loretto Primary School was set on fire in June 2022 (Image: Other)

Pupils at Our Lady of Loretto Primary were said to have been left distressed and heartbroken after repeated acts of vandalism on the school grounds.

In an effort to combat this issue, West Dunbartonshire Council increased patrols around schools and early years centres in the town in July.

Across Scotland the cost totals more than £4 million with 22 of the country’s 32 local authorities spending £4,961,189.83 in the last five years. Of this, £1.16million was spent in the last full academic year (2021-22).

The overall bill is believed to be higher as ten local authorities did not provide figures.

Total spent on vandalism repairs to schools in West Dunbartonshire:

2018/19: £35,406.46

2019/20: £14,219.08

2020/21: £1,231.04

2021/22: £5,647.94

2022/23 (to date): £3,188.15

Stephen Kerr MSP, Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary, slammed the figure as “disgraceful”.

Mr Kerr said: “It’s disgraceful that already scarce resources are having to be spent on repairing damage to schools caused by mindless vandals.

“These louts should be ashamed of themselves – but the need for such expensive repairs poses the question as to why the SNP government have not ensured our schools are properly safeguarded and protected in the first place.

“We need effective CCTV systems to act as both a deterrent and a means of identifying and punishing offenders.

“The staggering cost of vandalism is further evidence of the SNP’s inexcusable indifference to the state of Scotland’s schools.

“The new SNP education secretary Jenny Gilruth must get to grips with this issue and ensure that our schools are properly protected.

“Vandals must know that the full weight of the law is there to deal with this destructive, anti-social behaviour."

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Education Secretary is deeply concerned that the Conservative spokesperson for Education has described Scottish school pupils as 'louts'.

“We certainly do not need CCTV in our schools watching our children, as the Conservatives appear to be implying.

“The Education Secretary wants to work with Scotland’s children and young people - she will leave the ridiculous name-calling to the Conservatives, whose behaviour in this press release alone evidences why they should be nowhere near making decisions on Scottish education.”